LANE STRATEGY for Glasgow City Centre LANE... · 2017-03-28 · To ensure that this strategy brings projects into being, a number of lane demonstration projects have emerged through

for Glasgow City Centre

december 2016

LANE STRATEGY

Study team: Dele Adeyemo Joost Beunderman Bill Grimes John Lord Willie Miller Ines Triebel Nick Wright

CONTENTS PAGE

Executive Summary i

1.0 Introduction 1

2.0 Lanes as city centre assets 5

3.0 Learning from elsewhere 21

4.0 Strategic interventions 49

5.0 Planning policy and design guidance 61

6.0 Action projects 65

7.0 Implementation plan 81

8.0 Conclusion 83

LANE STRATEGYGLASGOW CITY CENTRE

December 2016

City Centre Regeneration Team DRS - Housing and Regeneration Services

Glasgow City Council 231 George Street Glasgow G1 1RX

WMUD with

Nick Wright Planning Architecture 00 Studio Cascade

Pidgin Perfect Yellow Book

WMUD | DECEMBER 2016 | i

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

Glasgow City Centre has seen significant regeneration over the past twenty years and continues to invest heavily in the quality of the city centre experience. The strategy for the city centre is guided by Glasgow City Council’s Getting Ahead of Change, Glasgow City Centre Strategy and Action Plan 2014–19. A fundamental component of the City Centre Strategy and a key priority is the development and delivery of a city centre lane strategy. This report describes the components of a comprehensive strategy for making the most of the city centre lanes by creating attractive and active lanes which help to foster a thriving civic life and promote economic growth, inclusion and sustainability.

WHAT IS THE POTENTIAL OF GLASGOW’S LANES?

Glasgow has around 90 lanes in the City Centre Strategy area totalling approximately six miles in length (9.8 km). This system of lanes has developed over many centuries but most significantly over the past 300 years, spanning five important phases of city development which have left their mark on the character, current uses and potential of the lanes.

Today almost the entire city centre is covered by the Central Conservation Area. The city centre also contains over 2,300 Listed Buildings, most of which are in the Conservation Area. There is a close correlation between the lanes and the distribution of Listed Buildings. This is a remarkable and rich heritage and arguably one of the best ways of appreciating it is through the lanes.

While the current role of the city centre lanes can be seen as primarily utilitarian, a small number of lanes, such as Mitchell Lane and Virginia Court, are in active use on their own account and form part of the pedestrian network. At present these are the exceptions but the report identifies opportunities to unlock the latent potential of other lanes.

The distribution of land uses in the city centre and the relationship with the character and condition of the lanes is marked. There is a direct relationship between lanes that service or back onto streets with high levels of café, restaurant and licenced premises and issues with refuse, waste and sometimes community safety, for example on Sauchiehall Lane and North Court Lane. At the same time, these lanes often represent some of the best opportunities for transformation through events and art interventions.

LEARNING FROM ELSEWHERE

In many countries, the often overlooked and uninviting lanes are shedding their image as merely functional spaces, embracing a new role of contributing to the urban

environment. Recently, lanes have begun to be reintegrated into the fabric of cities in new ways. Some are being “greened” - renovating them to manage storm water and reduce urban heat island effects. Others are becoming part of the public realm either as vibrant pedestrian connections between streets or as destinations with activities and events.

Cities across America, in Australia and Canada are beginning to activate their lanes in exciting and innovative ways and the report contains a sample collection of those cities involved in a range of different but successful lane projects. Some of the worthwhile lessons from these projects include the value of cities having a Lane Strategy, the importance of public safety, getting a balance between service functionality (deliveries, refuse collection etc) and pedestrian friendliness, providing appropriate facilities for users and supporting commercial activity.

One of the most popular ways to make a lane more inviting is to make it visually appealing, to give pedestrians something to visually explore as they walk through. Art installations - both permanent and temporary - are important in the lane activation process. Designs can be used to connect back to the history of an area, or simply as something that brightens an otherwise drab connection.

Improving lanes takes time. Lessons from the case studies indicate that the process is incremental, frequently led by evolving citizen or business initiatives. This points in part to a strategy of patience and facilitation, in which the Council identifies opportunities, empowers private sector action, streamlines processes and then waits to see how efforts led by stakeholders fail or succeed.

STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONS

These are the fundamental areas for action covering the whole city centre to improve lanes and maximise their potential. They include waste and recycling, public health and community safety, lighting, parking and surfacing. They also include events and popups, arts and culture and integration with the ‘Avenues’ project (EIIPR) proposed to be funded under the City Deal.

Possibly the most significant issue to be dealt with here is commercial waste disposal. There is a proliferation of bins in lanes throughout the city centre. Some lanes, such as North Court Lane and Gordon Lane, are overwhelmed by bins. The problem is not simply one of poor appearance. The proliferation of externally-stored bins causes a range of public health and community safety problems including waste accumulating around bins, smell, vermin, antisocial or criminal

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A LANE STRATEGY FOR GLASGOW CITY CENTRE

PLANNING POLICY AND DESIGN GUIDANCE

Managing the future development and the use of buildings adjacent to lanes is an important element of this lane strategy. The design of buildings and their uses influence many important factors that are central to the aspirations set out in previous chapters of this strategy. These aspirations include opportunities for low cost employment space, ground floor uses that animate the lanes, lighting that helps security, easy to maintain surfaces, vehicle access and parking, the retention of historic features and art interventions.

Provisions for waste and recycling management, microclimate and shelter together with sustainable drainage systems were also considered to be important factors.

The report assesses adopted planning policy and its performance through interviews with key staff and gathers positive examples of planning policy from other comparable cities.

New planning policy and guidance is proposed for the creation of active frontages and spaces opening on to lanes. It sets out arrangements for communal systems for waste presentation and collection – including recycling, security, lighting and maintenance. In addition, there are recommendations for public access to lanes (rather than full or partial closure) and for the retention of built heritage features such as cobbled surfaces, glazed tiles, the restoration of bricked up windows facing onto lanes and the repair of small features such as cast iron kerbs, ironwork and railings.

Illustrated examples of these policies in use are presented in the main report.

ACTION PROJECTS

To ensure that this strategy brings projects into being, a number of lane demonstration projects have emerged through engagement with businesses, entrepreneurs and community groups.

Individually, these projects are opportunities to demonstrate how specific aspects of the lane strategy could be implemented and the impacts they could have. Collectively, the projects should be seen as an opportunity for the City Council and other stakeholders to promote the potential of the lanes and encourage more activity and investment.

The projects outlined in this section are a selection of ideas and proposals that emerged during engagement on the lane strategy, focusing on lanes which present the greatest opportunity for positive change. They seek to illustrate the range of themes covered by the strategy.

behaviour screened by bins, including misuse of needles, rough sleeping in or around bins and fire-raising. Reducing the proliferations of bins, and knock-on environmental and antisocial problems, is a complicated challenge.

The report proposes a range of actions including reduction of waste and recycling at source, education and training, timed windows for collection and a ban on bins in lanes. It is proposed that demonstration project should be trialled within the city centre to test and refine the system. The findings of the demonstration project should then inform roll-out of the scheme across the whole city centre.

The report examines parking and surfacing in lanes. Many city centre lanes suffer from indiscriminate parking despite widespread parking restrictions throughout the city centre. This leads to blocked lanes and damage to buildings caused by large vehicles manoeuvring around illegally parked vehicles. A range of solutions are proposed that would remedy this including resurfacing and the introduction of Restricted Parking Zones.

Events and popups are the simplest way of making more of the potential of lanes. More activity such as markets, gigs, shows, festivals and outside seating for cafes and bars helps to animate lanes and make them more attractive Consultations with event organisers revealed barriers to organising more events and popups – for example, the cost associated with applications for street closures and slow or inconsistent decision-making on consents. The report suggests a range of approaches including putting in place a single, named positive point of contact as a source of advice for dealing with all consents and applications as well as proactively reaching out to landlords and potential operators of a range of lane premises, existing or potential.

Glasgow is home to a rich and diverse artistic community, whose contribution to the city’s culture, community life and economy is well documented. Artists need space, for both studio and show: affordable and appropriate ‘studio’ space for production, and ‘show’ space from concert halls and galleries to outdoor spaces for performance and installations. The spaces provided by the city centre’s lanes are a huge resource for the city’s artists – for musical performance and visual arts installations, both temporary and permanent, and as productive spaces. The creative community of Glasgow effectively provides a ready-made tenant for the lanes: a network of people with the capacity and motivation to transform city centre lanes into active and productive spaces.

The report proposes developing a pilot lane for productive studio and exhibition spaces, the development of an arts lane, broadening the scope of arts interventions beyond murals as well as conserving and building on the legacy of public art in the city centre. Finally, running an annual competition for artistic interventions in lanes with an independent jury (as in Sydney for example), linking to the proposed Lanes Activation Fund.

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For each project, a brief has been developed which the City Council and relevant partners (public sector agencies, adjacent businesses/proprietors, event, arts, cultural sector and community groups) can use to take the project forward.

The City Council is currently considering setting up a Lanes Activation Fund. This will be an important stimulus for animating the city centre’s lanes and could itself be piloted on these and other action projects at an early stage first year. The Fund should include competitions, rewards and incentives to encourage creative initiatives that contribute to the implementation of this Strategy.

The Action Projects include:

• Sauchiehall Lane: BID area - evening economy and entertainment

• Sauchiehall Lane: Willow Tearooms - heritage and management of lanes

• Bath Lane: Wellington St – Renfield Street - culture, entertainment, development of new lanes

• Renfield Lane - Drury St - Gordon Lane - Mitchell Lane - events, evening economy, entertainment and heritage

• Springfield Court - McCormack Lane - Princes Court – Royal Exchange Square - North Court Lane - retail and entertainment, development of new lanes, culture

• Garnethill: Buccleuch Lane – Dalhousie Lane - residential area, greenspace

• Tontine Lane and Elmbank Gardens - arts, culture, making and employment

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

The implementation of the Lane Strategy requires a strong shared sense that improving the lanes is a key area of activity for everyone involved in the future of the city centre. The subject areas for priority action are:

• effective planning policy and guidance

• resolving operational issues around waste, parking, lighting, public health and community safety

• setting priorities and targeting resources

• implementing action projects

• promotion of initiatives and projects through the City Centre Strategy Website

• establishing a Lanes Activation Fund to help fund and support lane initiatives and projects

• integration with other funding and project streams

The priority areas where some of these actions can play out vary considerably. Some, for example, effective planning policy and guidance or resolving operational issues around waste, parking and lighting cover the entire city centre while others are site specific.

Other proposals, for example the Action Plan proposals are for projects which have arisen through engagement with businesses and others during the study period. There will most likely be an expectation that the Council can support these projects, even in a minor way, but they will be time-limited. After the passage of a year or more, if the ideas set out here for particular interventions are not developed, they may not appeal to other promoters as circumstances may have changed.

CONCLUSION

The Lanes are potentially one of the most significant and useful assets within Glasgow City Centre. They offer a very different experience to the busy main streets in terms of scale and shelter. They potentially offer opportunities for art and culture, for employment through cheaper spaces for small businesses to develop, for spaces to make things, places to perform, to eat and drink. They are rich in history and architecture.

This strategy sets out a series of actions aimed at creating a better lanes system throughout the city centre. This covers revised planning policy and guidance, operational and strategic issues including resolving operational issues around waste, parking, lighting, public health and community safety.

Much of the work in preparing this strategy has been carried out in discussion with a wide range of agencies, communities, artists, entrepreneurs and businesses throughout the city centre as well as departments within the Council and its contractors. There have been many positive outcomes from these discussions including a range of pilot projects covering some of the important themes and issues central to the improvement of the lanes.

Finally, in order to make real progress with the implementation of this Strategy, there is a need to work supportively with private and social entrepreneurs who wish to activate lanes. These are the people who will deliver the promise of this strategy and who need to be encouraged and supported.

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WMUD | DECEMBER 2016 | 1

1.0 INTRODUCTIONBACKGROUND

Glasgow City Centre has seen significant regeneration over the past twenty years and continues to invest heavily in the quality of the city centre experience. The strategy for the city centre is guided by Glasgow City Council’s Getting Ahead of Change, Glasgow City Centre Strategy and Action Plan 2014–19. This document outlines the strategic vision for the city centre: one of an attractive and active area able to foster a thriving civic life, enhance the overall quality of life, and promote economic growth, inclusion and sustainability. A fundamental component of the City Centre Strategy and a key priority is the development and delivery of a city centre lane strategy.

THE POTENTIAL OF THE LANES

The Council considers the city centre lanes to be as important as its main streets. Lanes often offer a unique human scale experience and an insight into the historical development of the city centre, as well as many small physical features which cannot be found anywhere else in the city.

There are already examples of city centre lanes being transformed into successful public spaces where ground floor spaces occupied by small independent businesses offer a complementary experience to the established more corporate high-quality public realm of Buchanan Street and Sauchiehall Street.

Some lanes have developed a new dynamic, becoming populated with more public facing uses including venues and bars which attract people day and night. Mitchell Lane and McCormack Lane off Buchanan Street and parts of Sauchiehall Lane are good examples of this.

The Council wishes to build on these good examples of lane initiatives and demonstrate positive partnership working with landowners, businesses and other agencies as well as introducing planning policies which can help to create lane spaces that improve the overall city centre product in terms of environmental quality, economy and employment as well as appeal to residents and visitors.

REALISING THE POTENTIAL

While the city centre’s lanes can be seen as a potential asset, many suffer from a series of negative characteristics including anti-social behaviour, poor physical environments, parking and accessibility issues, poor drainage and surface finishes, inadequate lighting and the dominance of paraphernalia associated with refuse disposal. These negative aspects work against positive aspirations for the lanes.

The strategy has therefore to consider a series of challenges, many of which relate to service delivery, as well as the opportunities that the lanes offer for encompassing arts and culture, entertainment, employment and the development of independent makers and retail outlets.

THE ESSENCE OF A STRATEGY

The strategy seeks to answer many questions about the future of the lanes. Which lanes have the greatest potential for public activity and how can that be encouraged? How can the challenge of waste and recycling, and the proliferation of commercial bins in lanes, be tackled effectively? What else needs to happen to ensure that the city centre’s lanes, in all their different guises and functions, contribute to a thriving city centre? Can some lanes transition into nuclei of independent businesses where retail, knowledge-based or craft and maker activities thrive? Can lanes in some predominantly residential areas become foci for community activity such as greening

initiatives or growing food? How are long-term trends in city centre land use change going to affect lanes in a particular area? How can the lanes benefit from the emerging City Deal programme of works, especially the Avenues project which is another core component of the City Centre Strategy?

This strategy answers these questions and presents ways of tackling those challenges and maximising the potential of the lanes.

STRATEGY AND ACTION

The strategy has been prepared in partnership with a wide range of Council departments and their contractors as well as with businesses, landowners, charities, community groups and artists. These discussions ensured that the emerging strategy was not only responsive to the broadest range of interests but also produced a series of demonstration projects which could act as catalysts for future work.

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transforming lanes from this …STRATEGY ASPIRATION:

a transect along Sauchiehall Lane and West Regent Lane running east to west(courtesy Google StreetView)


...to this

a collage of images representing aspirational exemplar work in lanes from many international locations

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The themes and demonstration projects which might unlock the potential of the city centre’s lanes include:

• management of waste and recycling

• heritage and visitor attraction

• access, parking and lighting

• surfacing and drainage

• public health and community safety

• event programmes

• art installations and cultural activity

• working with residential communities

• greening initiatives

• planning policy

• coordination with City Deal projects

• a Lane Activation Fund

Addressing those issues and realising the potential of the city centre’s lanes requires an integrated approach, not only across Council departments such as planning, roads, cleansing and licencing but also with community safety partners, city centre businesses, residential communities and the arts and events sectors. In this way, Glasgow city centre’s lanes can contribute immeasurably more positive experience to the city centre.

Significantly, the Glasgow City Region City Deal will fund major infrastructure projects, create many new jobs, improve public transport and connectivity.

The City Deal will support the local area by improving infrastructure - for example in public realm and pedestrian connectivity work on the Enabling Infrastructure Integrated Public Realm (EIIPR) project. There is potential for crossover between this work and the Lane Strategy.

STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT

This report comprises eight sections as follows:

1. Introduction

2. Where is Glasgow’s potential?

3. Learning from elsewhere

4. Strategic interventions

5. Action projects

6. Planning policy and design guidance

7. Implementation plan

8. Conclusion


2.0 WHERE IS THE POTENTIAL?THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LANES

Glasgow has around 90 lanes in the City Centre Strategy area totalling approximately six miles in length (9.8 km). This system of lanes has developed over many centuries but most significantly over the past 300 years, spanning five important phases of city development.

THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY CITY

The earliest maps that show the origins of the city centre’s lanes date from the second half of the 18th century. The map of the shire of Lanark by Charles Ross dated 1773 has a detailed inset of Glasgow showing the extent of the settlement at that time, stretching from the Cathedral in the north down High Street to the Gorbals across the River Clyde. Many lanes, wynds and closes were in existence at this time and John McArthur’s Plan of Gorbells and Caltoun, engraved by Alexander Baillie and James Lumsden and published in 1778 (overleaf) is a useful and revealing starting point for a historic study of the subject.

At this time, Glasgow was a trading settlement, a religious centre and a place of education set in an agricultural landscape. The lanes were home to residents, businesses, timber and rope works, tanning works and orchards. This is evidenced in street names and spaces such as Grammar School Wynd, Stock Friars Wynd, Butcher Market, Drygate, Goose Dubs and Sugar and Herb Markets.

The extent of development in the eighteenth century is superimposed on a current map

Fig 2.1 the extent of the 18th century development

Argyle Street

Sauchiehall Street

St Vincent Street

Hig

h St

reet

extract from map of the shire of Lanark by Charles Ross dated 1773 (credit NLS)

of the city on Fig 2.1. Much of the current area around Glasgow Cross is immediately recognisable from these old plans, especially the configuration of High Street and Argyle Street. Two of the lanes, Old Wynd and New Wynd are clearly marked on these plans. They are the oldest surviving elements of the lane system of the 18th century although their context and function has completely changed. In particular, Old Wynd has lost most of its enclosing buildings and is just a footpath connecting Argyle Street and Osborne Street.

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THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY CITY (1807)

By 1800, Glasgow had been transformed from a provincial town to an international business hub based originally on its control of the 18th-century tobacco trade with America. This trade was interrupted by the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and never recovered to even a fourth of its old trade. Merchants turned their attention to the West Indies and to textile manufacture. The trade made a group of Tobacco Lords very wealthy and they adopted the lifestyle of landed aristocrats lavishing vast sums on great houses and splendid churches. The merchants constructed spectacular buildings and monuments that can still be seen today and reinvested their money in industrial development to help Glasgow grow further.

As the city’s wealth increased, its centre expanded westwards as what is now known as the Merchant City area began to spring up. New public buildings such as the City Chambers in George Square and the Trades Hall on Glassford Street epitomised the wealth and riches of Glasgow at this time.

map of Glasgow by John McArthur dated 1778 (credit NLS)

Fig 2.2 the extent of the early 19th century city

Argyle Street

Sauchiehall Street

St Vincent Street


As new development took place, the focus of Glasgow’s central area moved away from its medieval origins at High Street, Trongate, Saltmarket and Rottenrow, and these areas fell into decline.

The extent of this period of city development is superimposed on a current map of the city on Fig 2.2 The legacy of this phase of development is significant. In contrast to the lanes and wynds which were typical of the medieval city, these lanes were built to service businesses with far less small scale residential use. Today, these lanes are where much of the re-purposing of the city centre lanes has taken place or where the greatest potential lies for change. They include Mitchell Lane, North Court Lane, Springfield Court and Gordon Lane. The character of the lanes is small scale, enclosed and complex. Significantly, these lanes are where many art installations and interventions have been made including Collective Architecture and Louise Welch’s ‘Merchant City Voices’ in North Court Lane (sound installation) and Iain Kettles’ ‘Space Invaders’ in Gordon Lane (now removed).

THE MID-19TH CENTURY (THE 1850S)

From the 1850s onwards, the expansion of the city centre took place increasingly in a western direction creating the characteristic gridiron layout framed originally by four storey buildings built predominantly in a Georgian style. This stretched from West Nile Street westwards over Blythswood hill. The gridiron layout was translated into a hierarchy of streets and lanes which gave access to servant quarters, tradesman entrance and at times included mews cottages and stables.

The extent of this period of city development is superimposed on a current map of the city on Fig 2.3. While this phase of development produced an elegant collection of grand streets and cityscapes including the setpiece of Blythswood Square, the lane system created was much less interesting and involving than previous phases. The long east to west layout of the grid and lanes offers less interest or variation in character though it frames some dramatic long views down into the city centre, out to the West End and south towards the river.

Fig 2.3 the extent of the mid 19th century city

Back Wynd from Trongate - 1890s (credit Annan)

Argyle Street

Sauchiehall Street

St Vincent Street

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Annan’s images of lanes off High Street and Saltmarket, circa 1866 (credit Annan)

Frederick Lane, 1964 (credit Mitchell Library)Shuttle Lane, 1927 (credit Mitchell Library)


Sauchiehall Lane, 1970 (credit Mitchell Library)Burrell’s Lane, 1959 (credit Mitchell Library)

St Vincent Lane, 1932 (credit Mitchell Library)

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THE RAILWAY AGE (1840-1880)

In parallel with the Mid-Nineteenth Century expansion, the Railway Age radically changed the character of the city centre. The construction of St Enoch Station for the City of Glasgow Union Railway in 1876 with associated tracks through the medieval core wiped out most of the lane system that had developed there up to 1800.

Further west from the medieval core, the construction of Central Station for the Caledonian Railway Company in 1879 was built over Grahamston village including Alston Street and Wood Lane.

The earlier construction of Queen Street Station for the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Company in 1842 and Buchanan Street Station for the Caledonian Railway Company in 1849 were far less damaging and had little or no effect on the city centre’s lanes.

Fig 2.4 the extent of the early 19th century city and railway age

St Enoch Station showing the scale of disruption to the medieval core of the city and the lanes around Old and New Wynd, Briggait and the Saltmarket(credit Mitchell Library)

Argyle Street

Sauchiehall Street

St Vincent Street


TWENTIETH CENTURY (THE 1960S AND 70S)

The twentieth century saw sweeping changes, predominantly around the edges of the city centre, most notably with the construction of the M8 through Charing Cross and Anderston, but also closer to the heart of the city with the closure and subsequent demolition of St Enoch Station in 1977. Also, the redevelopment of the area immediately west of Oswald Street at Broomielaw has seen substantial change.

The construction of the M8 and the redevelopment of areas around Newton Street, Elmbank Crescent and Charing Cross Station severed what had been an easy and flowing connection between the lanes of the Blythswood area and the Sandyford Place, Berkeley Street and Kent Road area. At the same time, new development around Charing Cross Station designed by Richard Seifert and constructed in 1969-73 linked Bath Lane, Bath Street, Elmbank Crescent and Newton Street in a new space which has a stamp of modernism while also being a spacious social hub with

Fig 2.5 the extent of the early 19th century city

Elmbank Gardens at Charing Cross by Richard Seifert - a 20th century lane with modernist concrete mural

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cafes, station, hotel and retail together with concrete sculptures and sunken gardens. This area has potential to accommodate smaller scale developments of a temporary nature.

As the construction of St Enoch Station and associated tracks in 1876 had involved the clearance of many lanes in the medieval core of the city centre, the demolition of the station in 1977 created a swath of vacant land stretching from Stockwell Street, King Street and southwards to the Briggait which remains largely undeveloped almost 40 years later. There is a key opportunity in this area for new development incorporating a new lane system reaching from Argyle Street to the River Clyde that works with some of the remnant lanes from the 18th century such as Old Wynd, New Wynd and Aird’s Lane

The International Financial Services District (IFSD) in Broomielaw is an area of substantial change in the city centre. Historically, the area had few lanes but some sections of these, particularly Robertson Lane remain. There have also been attempts to recreate lanes linking Oswald Street to Robertson Street and extending Robertson extending Robertson Lane westwards as part of new development. These new lanes have been well intentioned but fall short of creating the intimate and active character that would be a valuable counterpoint to the corporate environment of the area. As further development is likely to take place in this area, guidance is needed on how best to incorporate good lane practice in new building.

above: the impact of 20th century development on St Peter’s Lanebelow: a reconstructed lane in the IFSD - internal building uses do not relate to or enhance the lane


HERITAGE, CHARACTER AND THE LANES

The development of the city centre over the past centuries and the way in which the lanes have developed in their own distinctive manner during the five periods described earlier creates character areas which reflect these phases of development.

The lanes also have their own typologies ranging from the dark, dense and enclosed to more open and light.

Today almost the entire city centre is covered by the Central Conservation Area. The city centre also contains over 2,300 Listed Buildings, most of which are in the Conservation Area. There is a close correlation between the lanes and the distribution of Listed Buildings. This is a remarkable and rich heritage and arguably one of the best ways of appreciating it is through the lanes. The character of these areas is illustrated in the photosets overleaf .

Fig 2.6 heritage assets in the city centre

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Adam’s Court LaneRobertson LaneWaterloo Lane

Union Place

St Vincent Lane

Douglas Lane

North Court Lane

Drury Street


Aird’s LaneMerchant LaneTontine Lane

entrance to Old Wynd off Argyle Street

Virginia Court

Princes Court

Sloan’s off Argyle Street

entrance to Springfield Court

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THE CITY CENTRE DYNAMIC

The Glasgow City Centre Strategy defines the city centre area and identifies nine city centre districts - Fig 2.7. The latter are indicative areas: as shown in the plan and the district boundaries overlap significantly.

The lane system is focused on the Central, Blythswood, Sauchiehall and Merchant City districts, with outliers in Broomielaw, and St Enoch.

The Central and Blythswood districts account for most of Glasgow’s central business district. They include prime office space (especially west of Hope Street) and prime locations for shopping, entertainment and leisure (to the east). The role and status of these districts is secure for the foreseeable future, but research undertaken for the Avenues EIIPR study shows that changes are taking place:

• the centre of gravity of the office market has been shifting further south in Central district and into Broomielaw (IFSD); together, Central and Broomielaw account for about 65% of city centre Fig 2.7 city centre districts

locations of character images on previous page spread - 12-13


jobs and 75% of GVA, and for the overwhelming majority of private sector service employment

• based on planning permissions granted, the next wave of office and mixed-use development will be on the west side of the Broomielaw district, extending up to and beyond the Kingston Bridge

• a 2015 report on the office market by Ryden suggests that this shift to the south should prompt a reassessment of the potential for office development in the “core city centre blocks”

• Ryden argue that in these traditional business locations “higher value…land uses may out-compete offices and perhaps fit more readily with the conservation area”.

The Ryden report suggests that Central/Blythswood, the city centre districts with the greatest concentration of lanes, should be seen as an area in transition. Large floor-plate/single-user office buildings have continued to migrate south to locations such as Bothwell

Street, Anderston and the IFSD, and another wave of development is in prospect for the south-west of the city centre. Over a number of years, the traditional central business district has seen an influx of upmarket hotels, galleries, restaurants and residential development. This process of market adjustment looks set to continue and possibly accelerate.

In this context, the Lanes could play an important role in complementing both the offer and experience of the Central district, by providing smaller footprint spaces for independent retail and food and drink offer. Such an offer will be particularly relevant to the visitor economy and the cultural experience of the area, and could primarily be unlocked by working with existing business operators in the Lanes as well as with landlords to open up particular high-potential premises ‘early win’ spaces.

The opening of ground floor premises in the Lanes can also be part of planning conditions in the case of change of use. This requires a clear intention both in terms of placemaking and economic development: there is currently little high-quality independent retail in the Central

district – unlike in areas to the west, east and south of the City Centre, and Merchant city / St Enochs. Diversifying the experience and offer of the Central district would be an appropriate strategy for the Lanes, but would require a multifaceted approach (property, public realm, events).

In Blythswood, the prospects of a successful transition are dependent in large part on the human scale and fine grain of the Blythswood New Town grid, which is currently characterised by significant vacancies of traditional building stock. It is important to note that this area, having been a traditional focus for professional services, does not figure on the map of emerging start-up and creative industries.

In a recent report on the creative and artist workspace in Glasgow commissioned by the Glasgow School of Art , it is clear that the East End, Trongate and Gallowgate are where new creative / artist workspace facilities tend to be located. The eastern edges of Merchant City and St Enoch are part of this trend, but not the Central and Blythswood areas; even Govan has a stronger emergent presence of creative industries and digital tech than Blythswood. In this context, a concerted effort to improve the amenity of the lanes network, and to introduce active uses at key locations would help to unlock the potential of this area, but the inevitably small scale of new projects focussed on the Lanes means that they may need additional drivers to change the perception and commercial dynamics of this area.

Equally, there are important questions about the future direction of the Broomielaw district. One of the features of development to date in the IFSD is the sequence of semi-public lanes and open spaces linking Oswald Street, Robertson Street, Broomielaw and York Street. These routes provide some relief from the monolithic form and mediocre quality of most of the new buildings, although the benefits are offset by the lack of active ground floor uses in the area, which is largely deserted outside office hours.

To avoid the risk that this expanded business district is as mono-functional and under-populated as the IFSD it will be important to include a range of uses including hotels, restaurants, gyms and residential (homes to

Fig 2.8 city centre dynamics

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buy and build to rent). There is significant evidence, for example from the book “The City at Eye Level: Lessons for Street Plinths” that diverse active ground floor uses add significant value to city districts over the long term, and a focus on the quality of the Lanes should be part of a comprehensive ground floor uses strategy aimed at maximising diversity of uses. These issues will be addressed through the Regeneration Framework for the area that is currently being prepared by the City Council.

This, in turn, will put a premium on providing a high-quality public realm and a permeable built form, with safe and attractive pedestrian routes through the city blocks accessible 24 hours a day.

The dominant land uses associated with the city centre lanes network are summarised in Fig 2.9. The city centre is dominated by economic and other employment-generating activities including business, public administration, education and healthcare. About 135,000 people (116,000 full-time equivalent) are employed in the city centre, in addition to 65,000 students registered at city centre institutions.

The resident population of the city centre is relatively small (around 20,400 in 2014) and is distributed across the districts. Most of the areas with a strong neighbourhood character are in districts such as Cowcaddens and Townhead which do not contribute significantly to the lanes network. The areas served by lanes include two significant residential enclaves: Merchant City and Garnethill (Sauchiehall).

DISTRICT PRINCIPAL USESCentral west of Hope Street: officesEast of Hope Street prime retail, leisure, entertainment, including hotels, culture, railway stationsBlythswood offices and other uses including hotelsSauchiehall prime retail, entertainmentGarnethill education, residentialMerchant City speciality retail, leisure, entertainment, culture, residentialSt Enoch secondary retail, creative and cultural industries

While the current role of the city centre lanes network can be seen as primarily utilitarian, a small number of lanes (or sections of lanes) are in active use on their own account and form part of the pedestrian network. Notable examples include Mitchell Lane and Virginia Court, both of which have been restored and upgraded as part of wider regeneration efforts. At present these are the exceptions but the study identifies opportunities to unlock the latent potential of other lanes.

Fig 2.10 Land use and the lanes


Fig 2.11 Centrality and the lanes

LAND USE AND CENTRALITY

The distribution of uses in the city centre and the relationship with the character and condition of the lanes is marked. There is a direct relationship between lanes that service or back onto streets with high levels of café, restaurant and licenced premises and issues with refuse, waste and sometimes community safety. This is certainly the case along Sauchiehall Lane and North Court Lane.

There is also a correlation between centrality, land use and the condition of lanes. The more central a lane is where there is a higher incidence of cafes, restaurants and bars, the lane is likely to suffer from a range of negative factors. At the same time, these lanes often represent some of the best opportunities for many of the more aspirational transformations which can take place in lanes through events and art interventions.

Lane Centrality

Street Centrality

the larger the symbol, the more central

that location is and therefore likely to be

busier and better connected

Mitchell Lane - one of the most central locations in the city centre

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THE TYPOLOGIES OF LANES

Glasgow’s city centre lanes have many different typologies depending on when they were built, their purpose and context. The seven typologies illustrated here represent a cross-section of types and ages from the largely residential environment of Garnethill through the hard and dark spaces of Sauchiehall Lane to a transect along Bath Lane from west to east.

The later lane constructions at Elmbank Gardens and at Broomielaw break from the tradition of vehicle oriented spaces and adopted a pedestrian oriented format. Elmbank is more successful than Broomielaw as it has a number of activating uses as well as the positive footfall associated with Charing Cross Railway Station.

Argyle Street

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Broomielaw

River Clyde

Broomielaw

Jam

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Radisson Blue Hotel

Lane behind residential properties in Garnethill - open, green character, gardens and trees

Lane behind Sauchiehall Street - high density, enclosed, overshadowed, hard surfaces

Transect along Bath Lane - west to east: lower density in west, less enclosed, some green space

Transect along Bath Lane - becoming more enclosed, parking areas off lane, hard spaces

Transect along Bath Lane - eastern end, high density, overshadowed and enclosed

Elmbank Gardens at Charing Cross - modernist spaces, green, some activating uses benefit from pedestrian flows at the railway station

The International Financial Services District - new lanes with no activiating uses, enclosed, bland


3.0 LEARNING FROM ELSEWHEREIn many countries, the often overlooked and uninviting service corridors that run behind and between buildings are shedding their image as merely functional spaces, embracing a new role of contributing to the urban environment. Recently, lanes have begun to be reintegrated into the fabric of cities in new ways. Some are being “greened” - renovating them to manage storm water and reduce urban heat island effects. Others are becoming part of the public realm either as vibrant pedestrian connections between streets or as destinations with activities and events.

Cities across America, in Australia and Canada are beginning to activate their lanes in exciting and innovative ways. The following is a sample collection of those cities involved in a range of different but successful lane projects.

20’ wide, Austin, Texas | Abercrombie Lane, Sydney | Angel Place, MelbourneRuelle Verte, Plateau Mont Royal, Montreal

22


SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, USAPROMINENT FEATURES

• EVENTS

• SAFETY

Lane improvements in Seattle have been gaining momentum in the past few years as the City has begun to embrace the unique spaces between its buildings. Lanes in the Pioneer Square district - including Nord, South Post, and Pioneer Passage lanes - are good examples of the catalytic effect of lane improvement on an area. Nord lane was one of the first to add landscaping and events to create a pedestrian destination. The International Sustainability Institute, a not-for-profit organisation located within the neighbourhood, was instrumental in putting on events that have steadily increased in popularity, including showings of the World Cup, art exhibits, music performances, pet adoptions, and more. Seattle’s lane repurposing is noticeably focused on events and cleanliness rather than physical improvements. They are encouraging residents and business owners to look at the potential of lanes for hosting events and activities that bring more people into their neighbourhood.

The Seattle Clear Lanes Program is aimed at those who wish to improve their lane. The programme aims to reduce waste containers in the public right-of-way in designated “clear lane” districts. The program has replaced wheelie-bins in downtown lanes with small containers and color-coded bags and restricts the time periods in which recycling containers can be placed in the public laneways. This allows for better access and increases the attractiveness of lanes, while also reducing illegal or unwanted activities by making the lanes more visible.

This change, along with the events, has drawn new retail, housing, and offices into the area. The success of Nord lane and others nearby has spurred other shops and business to utilise their lanes. Design manuals, toolkits, and lane handbooks have been created to aid in the effort of lane improvement and policy changes in the city made the path easier for those who wish to close their lane and hold events.

Seattle Lane exemplars


Pioneer Square district of Seattle

all images courtesy Seattle City Council

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CHICAGO, IL, USAPROMINENT FEATURE

• ENVIRONMENT

• STORM WATER MANAGEMENT

Chicago contains one of the most extensive networks of lanes in the world with approximately 1,900 miles of public lanes. Many of these back streets experience frequent flooding and since they lack sewer infrastructure and were originally designed to have water flow down them into the surrounding streets, they put additional stress on the combined sewer system. Rather than pay the high cost of adding a sewer and catch basin to each lane, the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) decided to incorporate new green infrastructure.

The Green Lane Program initiative began as a pilot in 2006 and over 200 Green Lanes have since been installed under the recommended design features. The lanes are re-surfaced with permeable or porous pavement allowing water to seep through and eventually down into the water table- which reduces the rate and quantity of storm water runoff and recharges groundwater. They also include other environmentally sensitive renovations such as high albedo pavement, recycled materials, and energy efficient lighting. When completed each renovated lane gets a stamp in the driveway aprons on either end identifying it as a “City of Chicago Green Lane”.

The pilot projects were closely monitored and lessons were learned from them (such as the importance of the ratio between the pervious paving strip and the impermeable pavement) resulting in procedures being modified to ensure optimal results. The Chicago Green Lane Handbook was produced in conjunction with lane renovations to help with public acceptance, and explain what a green lane is, how it works, and why the city is implementing them. The emphasis in the handbook is on low density residential environments but the principles are relevant to Glasgow. While the lanes of Chicago still mainly function in a utilitarian manner, they now do so in an environmentally responsible and a more attractive way.

l Green Alley Plaque, Chicagok Alley typology, Chicagokk Alley repair exemplars, Chicago


Chicago Green Alley HandbookLane improvements off Rockwell Street, Chicago

all images courtesy: City of Chicago Council

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DETROIT, MI, USAPROMINENT FEATURES

• ART + SOCIAL CONTEXT

• COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The Lane Project (TAP) transformed a lane into a youth-led graffiti art gallery. TAP engaged young people in the community and neighbours in developing the plan. The improvement process focused on the site-specific problems of the lane such as vandalism and gang graffiti. Those problems were used as a springboard for improving the lane which now provides a space dedicated to creativity (mainly graffiti art) that can evolve with the surrounding social environment. It hosts weekly activities which coincide with the street art theme, including creating new projects and maintaining the lane.

“The Belt” is another community-based lane in Detroit. It used a concrete cobblestone walkway and a canopy of lights to create an intimate atmosphere, free and open to everyone year-round. Middle-school students were engaged in the process and helped to finish painting the murals seen along the walls in an effort to show them how they can help shape their city. Even as the lane continues to develop- with new additions such as an outdoor bar recessed into the wall- the community is still tied to it through that art they had a hand in.

k 4 artists working on The Beltkk The Belt, Detroit


k The Belt locationkk The Belt, Detroit

k TAP Artworkkk TAP Graffiti artist at work

all images courtesy: City of Detroit Council , TAP and The Belt (Library Street Collective and Bedrock Real Estate Services)

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WASHINGTON, DCPROMINENT FEATURES

• HISTORIC PRESERVATION

• SIGNS

Lanes have a long history in Washington DC but that important heritage has only recently been recognised and protected. Historically these lanes had names but today they are not known by them. However by reviving old names the lanes become recognised again as part of the City’s street system. Signage can then be utilised to create more visibility and can point to destinations reached via the lanes.

Since these lanes are steeped in history, targeting tourists through walking and biking heritage tours that highlight the history and architecture is an appropriate use. The history of the surrounding area is also viewed as an inspiration for art, fairs and other events.

A popular repurposed laneway, Cady’s Alley off M Street NW in Georgetown is credited with helping to transform the area both economically and spatially. The first of its type in the district, the lane is a shared space and is the front door to both shops and apartments and has become well known among locals and visitors.

lkk Cady’s Alley general views


k Cady’s Alley location planlkk Cady’s Alley general views

all images courtesy of Washington City Council

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA, PROMINENT FEATURES

• SHARED STREET

• DESIGN

In the dense urban neighbourhoods of San Francisco, lanes have been recognized for their importance to the city’s social landscape. Lane improvement and activation has become a citywide priority. Named “living lanes” the City’s holistic approach to revitalising lanes includes physical improvements, public art, programming, and environmental practices. The aspiration has been to create a human-scale experience and exemplar in the redesign of San Francisco’s laneways.

A key design element is paving. The paving of a shared lane not only enhances its appearance but is also a functional component. Changes in paving are used to identify pedestrian and vehicular zones, designate parking spaces, and define seating and play spaces. In this City, vehicles are typically allowed access at certain times or at a reduced speed. In laneways that allow parking, a serpentine path of travel for the vehicles can be created through design of the paving and placement of the parking spaces to help slow down the cars travelling through.

San Francisco is one of few exemplar cities in the USA to mention specific urban design elements that factor in to how successful a lane is. These elements include: scale (street wall height related to street width), sun and sky availability, the mix of access and uses, greenery, and connections. By being aware of these elements, lanes are selected that have a predisposition towards being successful - and lanes without these elements can be designed in a way to make up for any shortcomings.

Design can also influence the safety of getting to and being in a lane. Living lanes include elements such as lighting and good visibility to help people feel safe within lanes. Traffic calming methods like corner alterations and raised crosswalks at entrances have the added benefit of acting like gateways for the pedestrian, offering a safer route into lanes.

k Annie’s Alley Party, San Francisco kk Jack Keruoac Alley, San Francisco


l Linden Alley, San Franciscok Restaurants activate San Francisco’s Belden Lane

kk Plan of Chinatown Alleys, San Francisco

all images courtesy: Government of San Francisco

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DENVER, COPROMINENT FEATURES

• COLLABORATION, ART, EVENTS

• CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

The lane off 16th street in Denver has been improved through the involvement of nearby property owners.

The owners of adjacent properties wanted to be able to host events in the lane. This lane improvement put emphasis on the engagement and collaboration of different agencies and people who have a stake in the area.

Property owners (working with the Downtown Denver Partnership) began with upgrading existing lighting in the lanes and consolidating wheelie-bins in one area.

Those two changes alone elevated the appearance of the lane and the feeling of safety by making it more visible and inviting.

This lane, and the successful beer tasting events it held, helped create future collaborations between city officials, Colorado University- Denver, the surrounding district, the Downtown Partnership, the Department of Public Works, and several businesses to improve lanes all over downtown.

To further prompt lane improvements, the City of Denver put out a guide called the Lane Enhancement Project. This document compiled existing conditions of a section of Denver’s lanes, recommendations on how to improve them, and create a classification system to indicate the level and type of potential improvements.

The classification has three lane types: Update (basic), Circulate (middle of the road), and Enhance (highest level). This approach helps to identify opportunities and suggests the first steps tenants could take to improve their lane based on where it currently is in the classification system.

kk Alley off 16th Street Mall, Denver


Cook Alley, Denver, Colorado

Physical proposals:A asphalt removal

B decorative paving/pavers w underground drainage

C lights

D alley name sign/entry feature

E graffiti removal

F planters

G art, permanent

Policy:enforce one-way

enforce no parking

consolidate refuse contract

future development standards

facade upgrade assistance program

k Lane strategy around 16th Street, Denver

all images courtesy Denver City Council

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PHILADELPHIA, PAPROMINENT FEATURE

• ART

Located in Chinatown, North Pearl Street lane is the backyard to a diverse group of tenants. It is lined with buildings containing a school, new loft apartments, a homeless shelter, and arts groups. One of those art groups – the Asian Arts Initiative – began the lane’s activation.

The improvement process began with a clean-up, but the activation is prominently done through art. Their pop-up events are aimed at enabling creative and social activities, and transforming the lane into a cultural space. Featured art often has interactive elements, meant to get the public involved with not just the art but also the lane itself. The lane has also been host to numerous block parties and dinner events. Projects held throughout the year have attracted hundreds of visitors to the reclaimed space, demonstrating alternatives to how laneways can be used.


k plan of Pearl Street, Philadelphia PA kk art intervention in Pearl Street, Philadelphia PAll art interventions in Pearl Street, Philadelphia PA

all images courtesy: Asian Arts Initiative

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AUSTIN, TX, USAPROMINENT FEATURES

• PROGRAMMING

• PHYSICAL IMPROVEMENTS

“20ft Wide” is the name of the public social space created in lane #111 in Austin, Texas. This lane improvement focused on two main elements: programming and temporary physical improvements.

Artwork was installed in a way that created visual interest on multiple levels with ground level physical design, wall art, and overhead visual art.

The ground level included art, plants, seating, tables, and more - while still allowing for the typical lane function of refuse disposal.

Accommodating those core service features helped garner the support of the surrounding property owners, a key component for the lane’s success.

The diverse programming was a draw for tourists and residents alike and the different events showcased the variety of ways in which the lane could enhance the public space.

A week of events was planned; some days had multiple events to demonstrate how they could be “layered” depending on the targeted audience and activities going on.

Programming included musical performances, dining (breakfast and dinner), art shows, playgrounds, jugglers, and an open day for people to visit the lane without any events going on.

To help measure the success of the lane the City of Austin downtown commission lane activation workgroup handed out short surveys to attendees, indicating a mainly positive response to the activation.

l 20' wide, Austin, TXk 20’ wide, Austin, TX


k 20’ wide location plan kj 20’ wide, Austin, TX all images courtesy: 20’ Wide, Austin Texas

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NEW YORK CITY, NYPROMINENT FEATURES

• SELECTION PROCESS

• ALTERNATIVES

New York City is not best-known for its lanes. It does not have a dominant lane street grid. A few lanes are scattered throughout the city, but typically the ‘lanes’ are just small-scale streets.

One of those streets which is proposed for conversion to a shared-street public space is a three-block area at the intersection of Willoughby and Pearl, located in Downtown Brooklyn.

A report known as the “Willoughby Pedestrian Priority Street” project was put together to discuss existing conditions, alternatives, and design concepts to convert the area into a pedestrian priority area.

This area was carefully selected through observation of existing conditions, discussions with stakeholders and traffic studies. The studies revealed that pedestrian volume exceeds vehicle volume at all hours of the day, with more than 1,000 people at the AM peak.

Observations saw that people already treat the street as a shared street often walking on the road surface and crossing at mid-block.

The low traffic volume is due to lack of direct access and the dead-end nature of Pearl Street. All these factors create an ideal environment for a pedestrian prioritised zone.

The report presents three alternative concepts for how the space could be converted. Features including signage, landscaping, paving, lighting, and seating (amongst others) are used throughout all three alternatives.

The alternatives show how the arrangement and choice of features affect how each part of the space is used.

l Willoughby Plaza, New Yorkk Willoughby Street, New York


Willoughby Plaza design concept, New York jk Willoughby Street location, New York

all images courtesy: New York City Council

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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA PROMINENT FEATURES

• TOURISM

• DINING

• ART

• EVENTS

Lanes in Melbourne are some of the most well-known in the world. In 1994 only a 300 metre length of was activated in central Melbourne but by 2014 that number had increased to 3 km of activated, accessible lanes. This network of lanes is focused on the pedestrian experience and creating better connections between larger public hubs. They have a whole range of pedestrian attractions including a thriving art culture, boutiques, cafes, alfresco eateries, bars, and music events.

The City themselves worked to enhance these lanes by adopting city policies to promote their development. These encouraged activities in lanes and the interaction between the public, the lane and adjacent private uses. Policy has also been implemented to create active frontages that are designed to enhance the pedestrian experience.

Multiple programs have been introduced to aid the repurposing of the lanes. Each program is a collaboration that requires a building owner’s support. “Love Your Laneway” is a programme established by the City that seeks to improve and celebrate Melbourne’s laneways. Five lanes are identified each year to receive the programme’s help with improvements. They also identify lane champions to help garner support from the surrounding community for the revitalization. The work is then done collaboratively with the city.

“Green Your Laneway” is another branch of laneway programmes established by the City. This is a relatively new programme and the city is still in the middle of their pilot projects. Having received nominations and narrowed it down to four laneways the city is now moving on to the design and construction phases. This process is unique due to their mapping system. The city was the first to create a map

that indicates all laneways in the central city that could go green. They then categorized each of the identified laneways based on their physical characteristics as well as their sun and wind exposure and then labelled from highest to lowest potential in four different greening techniques: vertical gardens, forest lanes, park lanes, and farm lanes.

The Laneway Commissions Program, established in 2001, also helps with the activation of the laneways. The program accepts proposals for temporary art from individual artists then provides grants to those accepted artists to produce and install their pieces. The art culture is an important aspect of these back streets. The street art on the sides of buildings can be registered, even retroactively and new street art and murals are permitted as long as the owner of the wall and local councils grant permission to the artist. Many of these pieces are still only temporary. Some are occasionally painted over with new pieces to create new experiences for the people who use the laneway.

k kk Melbourne Laneways


k kk Melbourne Lanewaysk Melbourne Laneways progress: 1993 - today kk Melbourne Laneways Grafitti Artworks

all images courtesy: Melbourne City Council

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA PROMINENT FEATURES

• ART

• HISTORY

The Sustainable Sydney 2030 plan included an initiative to revitalize Sydney’s unused and forgotten lanes. Street improvements, artworks, business incentives, traffic arrangements, and storm water drainage are all part of creating lanes that contribute to a more engaging, lively urban centre.

The Laneway art program curated by the city was used as a way to introduce people to the lanes. It raised awareness of the spaces and transformed the laneways through temporary art installations. Drawing more attention to the lanes through art was then used to introduce new, more permanent attractions. Some of the temporary art installations - such as the birdcage artwork in Angel Place - were so popular and well-loved that they became permanent features. Another technique used by the city to increase foot traffic was through walking tours. The city now offers a guide to “Hidden Sydney’s Little Lanes” which lays out a historical walking tour of the city that goes through its “little lanes”.

Major infrastructure works have been undertaken in multiple laneways throughout the city, including new paving, lighting, footpaths that direct people to outdoor dining spots and the closing of some laneways to traffic.

Sydney Laneways


Sydney Laneways

all images courtesy: Sydney City Council

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MONTREAL, CANADA PROMINENT FEATURES

• ENVIRONMENT

• COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

“Ruelles vertes” translates to green laneways and are aptly named for the reimaged lanes in Montreal. Unlike other locations these lane projects are almost exclusively done in residential areas.

Locals, with the help of district governments and special-purpose districts, have converted approximately 100 lanes. Today some districts even have waiting lists of citizens who wish to transform their lane.

In order to become an officially recognised ruelles verte, certain criteria must be met - including forming a citizen’s committee to ensure communities are serious about the project and their part in it.

The local government and environmental organizations help fund the layout plan and initial construction but the community must initiate the process, and then are responsible for the planting and upkeep.

To make these lanes “green”, all or part of the asphalt is first taken out. It is replaced with grass, plants, flora, and trees- placed either throughout the lane or along the edges if cars still need access down the lane.

This replacement of asphalt with vegetation helps reduce the heat island effect felt in urban areas, creates better storm water drainage, and improves both air quality and quality of life for the residents.

After the process these lanes become not only more environmentally positive but also more aesthetically pleasing and a place for neighbours to gather for gardening, block parties or other activities that help strengthen the sense of community.

k Ruelle Verte, Plateau Mont Royal, Montrealkk Ruelle Verte, Rosemont la Petite-Patrie, Montreal


k Ruelle Verte, Montreal

all images courtesy: Ville de Montréal

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FINDINGS FROM ELSEWHERE

STRATEGIES

Each individual lane has its own unique set of circumstances, and each project has important lessons and best practices that can be applied to other improvement efforts. There are common threads that connect each lane improvement but there are also different approaches that have been used to address similar obstacles. There is no one-size-fits-all solution but taken as a whole, the experience of improving lanes in these other examples establishes common themes that are valuable to future lane regeneration efforts.

SAFETY

The perception of lanes as grungy, dangerous, unkempt back streets - places to be avoided or quickly passed through - is the root of the safety issue. Creating more visible and more intensively used lanes is the simplest way of changing perceptions, limiting unwanted activities and creating safer lanes. Better lighting - from pathway to overhead catenary to lights on lane doors - all help to create a safe and inviting route. Increasing transparency and access between inside and outside by having lane-facing doors and windows means there are more people aware of what is happening in the lane. More eyes on the street is the best way to deter unwanted activities and lend a sense of safety to an area.

As lanes are typically used as functional spaces for service uses such as delivery and waste disposal pickup, they are generally lined with wheelie-bins which can block the line of sight down the lane. Replacing wheelie-bins with smaller containers (such as Seattle does), or consolidating them to one area are both options to help minimise safety hazards and crime by making the lane more visible and clean.

All of the examples cited have adopted one or more of these parameters in their lane revitalisation work.

SERVICES

One of the biggest hurdles identified in revitalising a lane is being able to convert it to a pedestrian-friendly environment while still maintaining its utilitarian purposes (ie deliveries, pickups, waste collection). The most

frequently used solution to this problem is designating hours for these services to take place and rationalising a city centre delivery policy. Activities such as waste pickups and deliveries are often scheduled to take place in the early hours of the morning – although this would not be acceptable in areas with a proportion of residential use. One way to ensure that no cars can access the lanes outside designated times is by installing retractable bollards - though these are very expensive to install and maintain. In the early morning they would open to allow vehicular access into the laneway, then during the day they would be closed - to prevent any cars from entering the lane (although special permission to enter could easily be allowed at times if needed). Another option is to only activate part of the lane and consolidate services to the opposite end. This allows for both functions to happen simultaneously which would appease some property owners who may need delivery services during the day.

Most of the city centre examples cited have adopted one or more of these parameters in their lane revitalisation work.

TARGET USERS

Lanes can be destinations for locals and tourists alike. Lanes can draw people in depending on different features and characteristics. Landscaping and potted plants can soften the lane making it more likely that people will use it as a connection. Adding benches, lighting, and canopies can change perceptions of the lane for visitors, employees in adjacent premises and the general public into a comfortable place offering sitting, relaxation and protection from the weather.

For example, at the 6.00m wide lane in downtown Austin Texas, one of their programme days specifically included tables, chairs, and a wi-fi connection to provide a good meeting place and workspace for downtown workers. Washington D.C. aims to leverage the draw of historical sites by holding heritage tours as one way to get more people into the lanes around the city. Shops with stoops and doorways in the lane, and/or outdoor dining areas bring patrons into the lane and invite them to stay and linger. Games, activities, playgrounds and other programming initiatives can all be used to animate the lane and create a family-friendly destination. All these functions can draw a wide variety of people into the area and can thus improve footfall for surrounding businesses.

COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY

Improving the volume of pedestrian traffic in lanes can be a catalyst for increased economic activity in the surrounding area. Ensuring property owners’ involvement in lane improvements is essential in making this happen. Surrounding business must want to be involved, and continue to be so to ensure the lane is not only improved but also continually cared for. Doors and windows that open into the lanes are a sign of use and safety and create a welcoming atmosphere. Lane terraces or small outdoor dining areas get people into lanes and this is an important way of increasing


pedestrian use through promoting a street cafe culture

Shops that people can access from lanes give a sense of discovery to pedestrians - as if they have stumbled upon a secret that is new and exciting. This can draw people back to a location and help to establish it as a special or trendy place. Proper signage can help people find these entrances and are indicators that there is something to discover down the side street. Owners can start these improvements by themselves in small ways such as lighting. Also, lanes do not always need a complete overhaul to be successful - the authentic “grittiness” of a lane can be part of the attraction.

MANAGEMENT

Management of the lane public spaces should provide opportunities for activation, the elimination of perceived or real obstacles and ensure that opportunities for improvement are not missed. Different approaches have been taken to the management of the lanes described above in each City.

In Chicago, where the main purpose of lane improvement is to lessen water runoff and other environmental impacts, the City is in charge. The Chicago Department of

Transportation developed the green lanes, and now install them on every commercial and residential lane that the reconstructs and also maintains them. Any other added improvements such as landscaping along the side, rain gardens, and bio-swales must be maintained by the property owners.

In San Francisco, home of the living lanes, management of the lane is dependent on who initiates the process. Community groups, private developers, or the City can install living lanes. When it is community-sponsored, the permit holder is responsible for the maintenance of the improvements. When the lane is City-sponsored, the responsibilities are split up. The City is responsible for the ‘shared roadway’ zone, and the fronting property owner is responsible for the ‘pedestrian- only’ zone.

Seattle’s lanes have a social focus, and their use for events and activities is increasing. Although the City maintains paved lanes, they do not refurbish them and sponsor events. Seattle actively encourages such activities though and has made lane improvements easier with a new special permit process, as well as the implementation of the Clear Lane Program in 2009. These policy changes allow those who wish to activate the lane to be able to do so

with relative ease, making it more likely for them to repeat the process.

While cities may not foot the bill they can still facilitate, provide blue prints of best practices for the area, streamline the issue of permits, financing, and planning processes to help aid the effort.

ARTS

One of the most common ways to make a lane more inviting is to make it visually appealing, to give pedestrians something to visually explore as they walk through. Artworks - both permanent and temporary - are common throughout the lane activation process. Designs can be used to connect back to the history of an area, or simply as something that brightens an otherwise drab connection. The use of local artists and community

48


collaboration brings more people with a stake in the area into the process, and encourages pride in the lane - which means it is more likely to be continually cared for.

Art shows or exhibits in lanes is a popular way of making them destinations. Permanent art can become a destination in itself – for example murals can add definition to a neighbourhood or district and often become something that visitors seek out. Temporary art, used in conjunction with other events or as a stand-alone, is also an attraction and a positive way to promote the potential for improving a lane.

ENVIRONMENTAL

Lanes are not always properly paved or as well maintained as adjacent roads. This results in poorly graded and poorly drained lanes that can exacerbate flooding. In addition, lanes are generally service corridors and storm water that flows through them can frequently convey concentrated amounts of surface pollutants from the streets into the storm sewer.

While each lane is unique and has its own set of circumstances, some research and pilot projects have resulted in a focus on “greening” (as seen in Austin, Baltimore, and Chicago). The most significant intervention is the resurfacing of the lane with permeable material that allow water to filter through, drain into the ground and help prevent flooding and runoff. The new paving can act as an environmental improvement as well as indicating sections

of the lane that are pedestrian only or shared space.

The use of green infrastructure makes for a more environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing lane and typically includes elements such as rain gardens, native landscaping, and bio-swales. Going beyond green infrastructure, other environmentally friendly interventions can include lighting, habitats for native species and the use of recycled materials.

PATIENCE

Improving lanes takes time. Lessons in all of these case studies indicate that the process is incremental, frequently led by evolving citizen or business initiatives. Melbourne’s lanes are a popular example of a successful network but they took more than 20 years to grow from a 300 meter collection of activated spaces to its current 5 kilometre system. Many successful programs depend on collaborative partnerships with agreements, commitments and cooperative approaches developing over time.

These examples point in part to a strategy of patience and facilitation, in which the Council identifies opportunities, empowers private sector action, streamlines processes and then waits to see how efforts led by stakeholders fail or succeed.


4.0 STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONSThese are fundamental areas for action covering the whole city centre to improve lanes and maximise their potential:

• Waste and recycling

• Public health and community safety

• Lighting

• Parking and surfacing

• Events and popups

• Arts and culture

• Integration with ‘avenues’

• Future development

• Planning policy and design guidance

WASTE AND RECYCLING

The challenge: commercial and residential waste and recycling

For commercial organisations, the Waste (Scotland) Regulations have since 2014 required all businesses and organisations to separate key materials (plastic, glass, metals, paper and card) for recycling, while most food businesses are also required to separate food waste for collection.

Lanes are widely used across the city centre by commercial premises to present their recycling and waste for collection. Many premises use bins for that purpose (typically 2-wheeled ‘wheelie bins’ or 4-wheeled ‘dumpsters’), and store them in or adjacent to lanes.

With a number of commercial waste contractors offering waste and recycling uplift in the city centre, there is little scope or incentive for individual businesses to share bins unless they are tenants within a managed building that has a single waste/recycling contract.

The result is a proliferation of bins in lanes, as the photos below show. Some lanes, such as North Court Lane and Gordon Lane, are overwhelmed by bins.

rubbish, too many bins and dirty lanes - typical of many of the City Centre lanes

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The problem is not simply one of poor appearance. The proliferation of externally-stored bins causes a range of public health and community safety problems:

• Waste accumulating around bins

• Smell

• Vermin

• Antisocial or criminal behaviour screened by bins, including misuse of needles

• Rough sleeping in or around bins

• Fire-raising

Amongst businesses fronting onto lanes (largely in the food and drink sector), proliferation of bins is the single biggest challenge preventing them from generating more public and economic activity in lanes, such as outdoor seating and events.

Equally importantly, the proliferation of bins causes serious public health and community safety concerns related to vermin, drug misuse, fire-raising and hazardous rough sleeping (for example inside ‘dumpster’ bins).

Reducing the proliferation of bins is therefore an essential prerequisite to the strategy’s aims of maximising lanes’ potential contributions to urban life and the city centre economy. Judging from our consultations with businesses on lanes, it is perhaps the single most fundamental aspect of the lanes strategy.

In terms of residential property, the city centre has a small number of lanes that are used for residential waste and recycling, notably Buccleuch Lane and Dalhousie Lane in Garnethill. Proliferation of bins is generally not an issue on these lanes because bins are kept on residential premises - sometimes accessed from lanes, sometimes not. (There is an issue with waste/recycling wagons getting along lanes to private bin stores, but this is related to indiscriminate parking and poor surfaces; please refer to related sections on the next pages.)

Many other cities face these challenges for uplift of commercial and residential waste and recycling, of course. There are an increasing

number of relevant examples not only from abroad, but also London (for example City of London and City of Westminster) and Edinburgh (Essential Edinburgh Business Improvement District and the wider city centre). For retrofitting commercial waste and recycling to existing city neighbourhoods, a number of UK cities have developed systems which involve timed windows for presentation/collection of waste/recycling, prohibition of waste/recycling on streets and lanes outwith those times, and use of bags rather than bins as far as possible.

The way forward

Reducing the proliferations of bins, and knock-on environmental and antisocial problems, is a complicated challenge. There are a number of significant constraints:

• Density of commercial premises in many parts of the city centre.

• The amount of waste/recycling material that can be presented for collection, particularly glass for recycling from licenced premises.

• Legal requirements for separation of recycling and waste materials into a number of streams for presentation and collection by contractors.

• A free market for commercial contractors, leading to a lack of co-ordination and consistency in waste/recycling systems.

• Lack of incentive for businesses to work together to share bins or waste/recycling management systems.

• Lack of dedicated space to store waste/recycling material and bins in the majority of premises.

• The presence of underground services in most lanes (e.g. electricity, gas, telecoms) render underground systems for waste/recycling transmission and storage very costly to build.

• The challenge of ensuring compliance with waste/recycling regulations and systems, particularly for businesses which

operate with staff on low wages, high staff turnover and waste/recycling systems in dark unwelcoming lanes.

After discussions with a number of businesses, waste/recycling contractors, officers in the Council’s waste/recycling service and examples from elsewhere, we recommend the following strategy:

1. Reduce waste and recycling at source: businesses and the waste/recycling industry should continue its efforts to reduce the amount of waste and recycling which needs to be presented for collections.

2. Education and training: businesses and the waste/recycling industry should ensure that their systems for presenting and collecting waste and recycling are simple, safe and clearly understood by staff. Staff need to be regularly trained to present waste/recycling in the proper manner and to ensure that waste/recycling does not accumulate around their premises. This is an ongoing requirement due to staff turnover in businesses.

3. a) Timed windows for collection and a ban on bins in lanes (preferred option): given the constraints and high costs associated with an underground waste/recycling collection system, we recommend that the Council works with commercial contractors towards a system of timed windows for presentation of waste/recycling by businesses coupled with a ban on bins on lanes. A similar system operated by Essential Edinburgh BID, now being rolled out across Edinburgh city centre by the local authority, is a good model as the basis for consultation for Glasgow city centre.

Key features should include:

• Businesses can only present their waste/recycling for collection during timed windows (typically 1 hour slots, but spread throughout the day).

• Waste/recycling should be presented in special bags purchased in advance from the commercial waste contractor.


Food waste and glass would require strengthened bags or other forms of container.

• Outwith the timed windows, businesses are responsible for storage of waste/recycling. They may not store waste/recycling or bins/bags in lanes.

• Commercial contractors have the opportunity to offer enhanced services such as janitorial uplift of waste/recycling from within premises and compaction technology within premises to reduce material bulk (e.g. glass).

• Strong initial and ongoing education/training for businesses about the new system (see below).

A demonstration project should be established within the city centre to test and refine the system, led by the City Council. The demonstration project should incorporate a number of components alongside those listed above:

• Investment in lane surfacing, parking controls and lighting so that lanes are accessible for waste/recycling vehicles.

• Enforcement of parking restrictions to keep lanes accessible to waste/recycling contractors’ vehicles.

• Investment by the waste/recycling contractor in appropriate supporting technology, janitoring and client management.

• Encouragement of multiple occupiers in individual or adjoining buildings to collaborate on single waste/recycling contracts.

• Investigation of supporting legal powers, such as local authority powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (amended 2014) to regulate the placing of waste/recycling containers on roads, and factoring legislation relating to waste/recycling contracts for buildings with multiple occupiers.

To incorporate these components, the demonstration project should be designed and implemented as a partnership project between the City Council and a commercial waste/recycling contractor. It may also be preferable to implement the scheme in a Business Improvement District (i.e. Sauchiehall BID) so that the BID can assist in the procurement, management and communication of the demonstration project.

The demonstration project should investigate the potential for reducing the number of vehicles operated by waste/recycling contractors, such as by procuring competition of commercial uplift by different types of waste/recycling stream or different geographical areas within the city centre. It should also evaluate the extent to which exemptions might be required by proprietors who are genuinely unable to accommodate waste/recycling storage within their premises, even with innovative technology and management from contractors and arrangement of single contracts for buildings with multiple occupiers.

The findings of the demonstration project should then inform roll-out of the scheme across the whole city centre.

3. b) Screening and grouping of bins (less preferred option): this would not result in removal of bins from lanes, but would ameliorate the negative impact of bins by reducing their environmental impact. It should be regarded as a less preferred option.

It would involve a combination of:

• Encouraging businesses to work together to share bins.

• Designing bins and bin stores so that they are a positive contribution to lanes.

• Maximising accessibility and ease of use for businesses.

• Minimising opportunities for antisocial behaviour and public health issues.

The scheme would need to be worked up in partnership between the City Council and commercial waste/recycling contractors. Procurement could involve a small number of tenders across the city centre to different waste/recycling contractors, divided up either by type of waste/recycling or by geographical area.

The competitive element of that procurement process should specifically ask tenderers to put forward proposals on:

• Design of bins and bin storage so that they become a positive contribution to lanes.

• Reducing the number of bins, including incentives to encourage businesses to share bins.

• Minimising waste accumulation and antisocial behaviour around bin stores, such as a janitorial service for presenting waste/recycling.

If this option is progressed, it could also be the focus of an initial demonstration project in one part of the city centre.

4. Enforcement: the City Council has a good reputation for monitoring and enforcing commercial waste/recycling in the city centre. This should continue for any new system that is introduced.

5. New buildings: where new development takes place, space should be incorporated within the curtilage for storage of waste/recycling. For larger new developments that include a lane, such as redevelopment of a whole block, a communal system for storage, presentation and collection of waste/recycling to serve all tenants/proprietors in the new development should be implemented – ideally using underground systems. Other existing tenants/proprietors in the block should be offered the opportunity to participate. There is more information on this in the Planning Policy section.

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PUBLIC HEALTH AND COMMUNITY SAFETY

The challenge

A number of city centre lanes, along with other locations such as the junction of Argyle Street and Union Street/Jamaica Street, experience antisocial behaviour. Although there is a common perception that lanes are unsafe (particularly after dark), it is clear from discussions with Community Safety Glasgow and Police Scotland that antisocial behaviour is actually concentrated in a small number of problem areas.

In terms of lanes, the accompanying table identifies lanes identified in discussions with relevant service organisations in spring 2016. Please note that the subjective ranking is the responsibility of the authors and is purely illustrative, as the nature of problems and their locations are transitory can change quickly. The accompanying table reflects the situation as it was in spring 2016.

Most serious problems

Old Wynd/New Wynd, TrongateSpringfield Court*North Court LaneGarnethill: Buccleuch Lane, Dalhousie Lane

Sauchiehall Lane (Renfield St-West Nile St)Sauchiehall Lane (Holland St-Elmbank St)

Gordon LaneUnion Place National Bank LaneRenfield Lane (Hope St-Renfield St)

Less serious problems

*Although not a lane, the derelict area adjacent to Springfield Court, between Princes Square and Royal Exchange Square, is also a problem area. It has planning consent for mixed use development.

Of course, other lanes also regularly experience problems, but those identified above were the most problematic locations at the time of writing.

What are the community safety and public health problems experienced in these lanes? They include:

• Drug injecting in lanes with public health implications for people injecting as well as drug-related litter – the most serious issue

for operational services. A lack of footfall, presence of bins and recessed doorways/spaces all help to encourage unsafe outdoor injecting.

• Rough sleeping - quite apart from being undesirable for the individuals involved, rough sleeping can lead to a number of related problems such as fire-raising for warmth in the winter, danger for rough sleepers sleeping in larger bins when they are presented for collection, and occasional violent attacks on rough sleepers.

• Fire-raising in bins – with access difficulties for fire tenders due to poor condition of many lane surfaces, indiscriminate parking/bins and poor lighting.

• Graffiti and other antisocial behaviour.

The most serious problems revolve around drug misuse.

For drug misuse, it should be emphasised that neither the hotspot locations nor the people involved are static. For example, North Court Lane was a problem area in 2015 for drug injecting hidden amongst the plethora of bins, but concerted action has eased the problem – although similar problems are now worse around Old Wynd and New Wynd. The area south of Royal Exchange Square towards Springfield Court has also been a problem area.

There is also constant flux amongst the people who are injecting drugs. NHS needle-exchange records show that most travel into the city centre from elsewhere in Glasgow or the West of Scotland, and that the needle-exchange population is transient. The constantly changing nature of the drug-taking population means that efforts need to be continuous, which is a demanding on resources.

In addition to drug use, there are examples of occasional antisocial behaviour at various locations throughout the city centre, for example Renfrew Lane at the Pavilion Theatre to name but one. The level of antisocial behaviour in lanes tends to be low (although public perception is often that the problems are more widespread).

There are also a number of recent cases of burnt-out vehicles on lanes in Garnethill. This is considered in more detail in the sub-section on ‘parking and surfacing’ (see below).

The way forward

Experience in the city centre has shown that apparent ‘quick fixes’ like gating and lighting are rarely the panacea that they might appear.

Gating is an extremely difficult and time-consuming process (although it was implemented relatively quickly at Tontine Lane, efforts at Gordon Lane are still in progress after four years. It is also undesirable as it limits accessibility and movement (such as at Tontine Lane). Even when gates have been erected, they may fall into disuse (e.g. Waterloo Lane).

Lighting can help as part of a bigger solution to increase footfall and activity along lanes, but needs careful design. For example, installation of lighting at one nightclub entrance on a city centre lane to resolve antisocial behaviour inadvertently attracted drug users, so creating another problem.

The solutions to crime and antisocial behaviour on lanes are as complex as the problems themselves. Basically there are two strategic areas for action:

1. Encourage greater activity and footfall on lanes, by creating destinations along lanes (such as bars and restaurants) and making them more active and attractive as outlined elsewhere in this strategy.

2. Support existing partnership initiatives to directly address public health and community safety in lanes.

Much good work is already being implemented by relevant partners in relation to the second action area: Council services (social work / criminal justice / homelessness), NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Community Safety Glasgow, Police Scotland, Prisons Service, Fire & Rescue Scotland and the Wheatley Group.

The presence of Community Safety and police officers in city centre lanes is an important cornerstone of making lanes safe and secure, and should continue to be resourced.


In terms of drug misuse in particular, various partnership initiatives are already underway. These recognise the complexity of the problems involved and the need to provide sustainable solutions which address the causes of the problems witnessed in the lanes (e.g. individuals’ lifestyles and behaviour) not simply tackling the visible symptoms on the street.

The partnership solutions already being promoted include the creation of a safe indoor injection premises in the city centre, working with people to encourage them to inject safely, and helping those people out of chaotic lifestyles. Both of these initiatives are already the focus of much effort in order to improve public health and community safety, and the changing nature of the drug-injecting population and displacement of activity means that continued action is vital.

Creation of a safe indoor injection location and action to address chaotic lifestyles are unlikely to involve any action directly on a city centre lane. These initiatives should however be seen as an integral part of the lanes strategy, together with any other related partner actions related to improving public health and community safety in the city centre’s lanes.

LIGHTING

Good lighting on lanes is a fundamental component in making them safe and attractive.

In terms of safety, all or most publicly-accessible lanes in the city centre have illumination from street lighting during hours of darkness. Even though only a relatively small proportion of lanes are adopted, many unadopted lanes have lighting which the City Council voluntarily maintains to the best of its ability. (Note that this is not a statutory requirement on the City Council for unadopted lanes.)

This arrangement should be continued to ensure continued good illumination in city centre lanes.

In terms of attractiveness, lighting can be an important part of making lanes not only more attractive, but also destinations in themselves. Permanent lighting can be designed to create positive ambience and atmosphere, as places

like Ashton Lane and Royal Exchange Square in Glasgow already demonstrate. Temporary or permanent lighting installations can also become arts interventions in their own right, as the Glasgow Festival of Light showed in 2005.

Delivering artistic lighting interventions should have the opportunity to receive support from the proposed Lanes Activation Fund, for example funding competitions for lighting interventions on lanes identified in the action projects section of this strategy.

Glasgow Festival of Light installation 2005

light installation Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow

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PARKING AND SURFACING

The challenge

Many city centre lanes suffer from indiscriminate parking, despite widespread parking restrictions throughout the city centre. This leads to:

• Blocked lanes - preventing access by waste/recycling vehicles, delivery vehicles and occasionally emergency vehicles.

• Damage to buildings as larger vehicles attempt to manoeuvre around illegally parked vehicles.

• Fire-raising - there have been a number of instances in Garnethill of cars being set on fire in lanes.

A contributory factor to indiscriminate parking is that parking enforcement is often difficult because the poor or broken surfaces of many lanes - again, both adopted and unadopted - means that line markings are both unclear and difficult to replace, parking fines can therefore be dismissed by the courts, and so the City Council is reluctant to use staff resources to issue further parking fines because of their ineffectiveness.

Some lanes, of course, have well maintained surfaces and clearly visible parking restrictions, meaning that parking restrictions can be enforced by parking attendants. Examples include Port Dundas Place by Buchanan Bus Station (an adopted lane) and West Regent Lane between Renfield Street and West Nile Street (unadopted).

Most unadopted lanes in the city centre are, however, in multiple ownership. Securing agreement of all proprietors in a block to invest in upgrading and maintaining their lane is notoriously difficult, even though the responsibility is legally theirs.

There are a small number of other examples where lanes have been redeveloped in recent years as part of larger developments, and vehicular access has been restricted through physical barriers (such as Wellington Lane east of Douglas Street, part of the Sentinel House development; and Dalhousie Lane between Scott Street and Dalhousie Street, now part

of St Aloysius College). Whilst these prevent indiscriminate parking, they have unfortunately also closed the lanes to all other public access. A preferable solution is that employed at St Vincent Lane east of Hope Street, part of the 123 St Vincent Street development, where the public still have free pedestrian access but there is a lifting security barrier for vehicles and CCTV monitoring.

poor surface, bins and rubbish in Sauchiehall Lane


problems in Garnethill lanes

poor surfaces where yellow lining is coming off

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The way forward

Repainting and ongoing maintenance of yellow lines and parking restriction signage by the City Council in lanes will allow parking restrictions to be more effectively enforced. This should take place on lanes with surfaces of sufficient quality, whether they are adopted or unadopted.

City Council parking enforcement activity should be continued, and expanded to include lanes where the lining and signage have been brought up to standard.

For unadopted lanes which are too poorly surfaced to be relined for effective parking enforcement, the responsible owners should work collectively to resurface the lane to a standard appropriate for reapplication of yellow lining. The City Council can then reinstate parking enforcement to prevent illegal parking. This approach has already proved effective in Sauchiehall Lane between Renfield Street and West Nile Street.

Buccleuch Lane and Dalhousie Lane in Garnethill (both of which are unadopted) face a challenging combination of multiple tenemental ownerships, unmaintained broken surfaces causing operational problems for waste/recycling and emergency services, indiscriminate parking, flytipping, burning of vehicles and antisocial behaviour. This complex set of problems require a package of interventions:

• Deterrence of flytipping through enforcement action.

• Continued presence of policy and Community Safety officers.

• Prevention of illegal car parking, which requires improvements to edge-of-lane surfaces in order for new yellow paint to adhere and effective parking enforcement action to be taken.

• Resurfacing of the full width of poorly surfaced lanes, to improve service access for bin lorries, emergency vehicles and any other vehicles requiring access.

The City Council, Community Safety Glasgow and Police Scotland should continue to work

together to deter flytipping and antisocial behaviour.

Resurfacing of lanes (in relation to parking enforcement and easier service access) is legally the responsibility of the owners adjacent to the lanes, not the local authority. The City Council has powers to do necessary work itself and recover the costs from the relevant owners, but is reluctant to do so because of the challenge of successfully recovering the costs where there are so many owners involved. The City Council is also concerned about setting a precedent for similar action elsewhere in the city centre, especially in the current financial climate for public spending.

The starting point should be for the City Council to work with Garnethill Community Council and Friends of Garnethill Greenspaces (FroGG) to persuade relevant owners to pay for lane resurfacing themselves – on the basis that it is their responsibility, and they will benefit from reductions in illegal parking and arson as well as increasing the quality of their immediate environment and access for emergency vehicles and bin lorries. If this is unsuccessful, the City Council should consider doing the necessary resurfacing work and recovering the costs for the relevant lanes (3 blocks of Buccleuch Lane and 1 block of Dalhousie Lane).

Adopted lanes which are in the control of the City Council but where surfaces are too poor for yellow lining to adhere, such as sections of St Vincent Lane.

Gating of lanes or installation of static or lifting bollards is generally not favoured, because of prevention of public/emergency access, management difficulties, and capital and revenue costs.

Any resurfacing of lanes should take the opportunity to install permeable or SUDS systems.

Restricted Parking Zone designations allow enforcement to be carried out without yellow lining and this may be worth considering.

EVENTS AND POPUPS

The opportunity

The simplest way of making more of the potential of lanes is for more activity to take place in lanes - for example markets, gigs, shows, festivals and outside seating for cafes and bars.

Our consultations with premises on city centre lanes and entrepreneurs who organise events indicate:

• A universal aspiration from cafes/bars on lanes to organise more of these kinds of activities.

• Demand from private/social entrepreneurs for more opportunities to use lanes as spaces for social and artistic popup events, not necessarily linked to adjacent permanent premises.

• A widespread desire not simply to organise events that are profitable, but genuinely to bring more life and activity to city centre lanes and also to clean and regenerate them in the process.

Achieving this would also be a crucial step towards changing perceptions of what the Lanes could become in the future and what their role could be in the experience and future economy of the City Centre. Events, in this strategy, are a ‘quick win’ that can unlock future value of ground floor premises, either ones already existing and underused, or premises that could be unlocked / generated in the future.

The challenge

The consultations also revealed negative perceptions that act as barriers to organising more events and popups:

• For smaller venues and organisations, the cost associated with applications for temporary street closures.

• Inconsistent, slow and cumbersome slow decision-making for consents from City Council departments.

• The speed, complexity and even nature of decisions varies


The nature of the problem can be illustrated by anecdotal evidence:

• A requirement for three months’ notice to organise popups often prevents licenced premises from being able to organise events around specific sporting or cultural events.

• Queuing for two hours, simply to hand forms in at Council offices, takes staff away from operational tasks and deters applications.

Of course, there are other constraints like waste/recycling bins, litter and poor surfacing which hamper event organisers - but consenting processes were consistently cited as the biggest challenge.

The way forward

A single, named positive point of contact should be put in place as a source of advice and for dealing with all consents and applications , as well as proactively reaching out to landlords and potential operators of a range of Lanes premises, existing or potential. This should ideally be an officer in the City Centre Regeneration team in DRS (subject to appropriate resources being made available). This point of contact should be prominently promoted to relevant audiences via the web, a flyer/booklet and other appropriate channels. This should be linked with the ‘how-to’ guide for entrepreneurs, community groups and artists referred to in the next sub-section (‘arts and culture’).

A simple application form should be created which encompasses all necessary consents for lanes events, with a timetable for response. As well as outlining details of the proposed event, hours of operation and requirements, the application form should contain space for the organiser to confirm that they will power-clean the lane before event, restore it to that improved condition afterwards, provide effective staffing, supervision, toilets, lighting etc as required, etc. The aim is not to be onerous, but to place responsibility

on organisers to ensure that events are appropriately and proportionately managed.

Endorsement of this approach should be agreed from City Council licencing, traffic and environmental health functions, Community Safety Glasgow and Police Scotland (as appropriate) to ensure rapid response. Everyone’s objective should be to enable activity to happen - to say ‘yes’ quickly unless there are over-riding reasons not to in the public interest.

Non-profit events or activities should have the opportunity to receive support from the proposed Lanes Activation Fund, for example funding competitions for events or activities on lanes identified in the action projects section of this strategy.

street party in Vinicombe Street, Glasgow

Where a lane is proposed to be temporarily closed to facilitate public or community events that contribute to implementation of this strategy, the costs associated with the required Traffic Regulation Order could be eligible for reimbursement from the Lanes Activation Fund.

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ARTS AND CULTURE

The opportunity

Glasgow is home to a rich and diverse artistic community, whose contribution to the city’s culture, community life and economy is well documented. Artists need space, for both studio and show: affordable and appropriate ‘studio’ space for production, and ‘show’ space from concert halls and galleries to outdoor spaces for performance and installations.

From our work with the arts and cultural sector during the preparation of this the strategy, we know that the spaces provided by the city centre’s lanes are a huge resource for the city’s artists – for musical performance and visual arts installations, both temporary and permanent, and as productive spaces. The creative community of Glasgow effectively provides a ready-made tenant for the lanes: a network of people with the capacity and motivation to transform city centre lanes into active and productive spaces. The Lanes, on the other hand, provide a compelling and inspiring canvas for these creatives.

Glasgow has an abundance of creative studio spaces and workshops, but the majority of these are on the periphery of the city centre. There is a market for affordable workshop space in the city centre where people can build, craft and make things. . The aforementioned report for Glasgow School of Arts shows that demand for such space is high – not just production space (where the preference is for larger-scale facilities that can offer eg specialist equipment or support services by being if sufficient scale to reach critical mass) but also exhibition spaces – and increasingly, smaller-scale exhibition spaces will also cross-over into functioning as production or event space. The Lanes and the buildings fronting onto them provide a range of opportunities to create such indoor spaces - by creating physical structures in the lanes such as the shed typology, breaking openings in the gable walls, adding awnings and converting existing garage structures. More low-cost workshop and exhibition spaces would of course bring activity and human presence, so helping to increase safety (perceived and actual) in lanes.

walkabout with artists in Glasgow City Centre, followed by a working session, 15 August 2016

Lawrence Weiner ‘Somewhere/Somehow and along the way/ come that way’ (https://galleryofmodernart.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/lawrence-weiner/)

outdoor performance, The Telfer Gallery (http://www.the-telfer.com/archive/)

Many Studios, Ross Street, Glasgow credit Pidgin Perfect


The way forward

A number of tasks should be progressed by the City Council, Glasgow Life and the arts community working collaboratively:

• Developing a pilot lane for productive arts ‘studio’ and exhibition/’show’ spaces, initially just in a single block. The primary purpose would be to create and populate a network of affordable productive arts spaces along the lane. The pilot should involve the creation of affordable workshop spaces, a good outdoor lane surface, promotion of the opportunity to the arts community, selection and management of tenants, maintenance of the lane, and organising public events and activities. The creation of a network of such spaces is of particular relevance given the preference for ‘scale’ which, if not achieved through one single building, could be achieved through managing a series of small scale spaces as one connected portfolio.

• Developing an ‘arts lane’ involving a series of artworks and interventions over a longer stretch rather than just one block, such as between Charing Cross and the heart of the city centre. Focusing on one such route would concentrate effort and impact. This concept is primarily focussed on ‘show’ space, but could involve the same lane as the ‘studio’ concept in the previous bullet. This could link to the murals tour

• Broadening the range of arts interventions in city centre lanes beyond murals to include lighting, sound, performance and other media, temporary and permanent, and developing an action-focussed public art strategy to maximise activity by the artistic community throughout the city centre and its lanes. The murals tour is a good example of how to generate more awareness and activity in lanes.

• Conserving and building on the legacy of public art in the city centre (such as the Empire work by Douglas Gordon, Radiance by Simon Corder and other well known pieces).

• Running an annual competition for artistic interventions in lanes with an independent jury (as in Sydney for example), linking to the proposed Lanes Activation Fund – possibly with themes such as embracing the Glasgow climate by using lanes as a way of escaping rain and wind.

Simon Corder at Radiance ‘Lost but found’, Glasgow, 2005 (http://katienicoll.co.uk/)

Douglas Gordon, current ‘Empire’ sign location in Tontine Lane credit Pidgin Perfect

Schipka Pass pre 2014 (http://ptfcnet.co.uk/gallery/index.php/Miscellaneous-photos/DSCN0733)

Jim Lambie, Barrowlands Park, Glasgow

Ian Kettles, ‘Space Invaders’ credit Pidgin Perfect

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Developing a ‘how-to’ guide for artists, community groups and entrepreneurs who wish to create activity in lanes, be it through arts installations, interpretation, information, events or pop-ups – web-based and/or hard copy, with information about the steps, contacts and consents required to realise ideas on the ground. This should be linked with the single point of contact referred to in the ‘events and pop-ups’ sub-section (above)

INTEGRATION WITH ‘AVENUES’

The City Council plans to invest over £110m in upgrading a number of city centre streets to become ‘avenues’ between now and 2025, a City Deal project formally known as Enabling Infrastucture Investment in Public Realm (EIIPR).

At the time of writing, the pilot ‘avenue’ (Sauchiehall Street) was at the detailed design stage, and selection of streets and initial design parameters for the remainder of the network were being worked on.

Where lanes and ‘avenues’ intersect, the design of the ‘avenue’ surface, hard/soft landscaping and signage should draw ‘avenue’ users’

attention to the adjacent lane and encourage them to explore it.

This applies equally to:

• Lanes which already have active public use (for example, Renfield Lane east of Hope Street, and Sauchiehall Lane west of Hope Street, both of which have bars fronting onto the lane and are referred to in the Action Projects section).

• Lanes not yet in popular public use but which have potential (for example, Sauchiehall Lane west of West Campbell Street, which has the Mackintosh-designed Willow Tearooms rear elevation).

As the ‘avenues’ progress towards detailed design, the City Council should ensure that design teams reflect these requirements in their work. At the same time, the Avenues can help to define a lane hierarchy.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

Changes in the use of buildings fronting onto lanes, alterations to building frontages at the entrances of lanes, and redevelopment of buildings happen constantly throughout the city centre - and will continue to do so for years to come, as the city evolves over time.

Each of these changes has an impact on the nature of lanes. All are managed through the development planning process. For this reason, planning policy is a key tool for managing future change in the form and use of buildings on lanes - to ensure that future change contributes positively to the environment and quality of lanes. In addition, the programme for implementation of the ‘avenues’ should influence when lanes projects and improvements should take place.

Reviewing and updating planning policy is therefore an important element of the lanes strategy. This important and wide-ranging topic is covered in more detail in a separate section on Planning Policy and Design Guidance (section 6).

Integration with the Avenues Project -Enabling Infrastructure Investment in the Public Realm (EIIPR)


5.0 PLANNING GUIDANCEINTRODUCTION:

Managing the future development and the use of buildings adjacent to lanes is an important element of this lane strategy. The design of buildings and their uses influence many important factors that are central to the aspirations set out in previous chapters of this strategy. These aspirations include:

• ground floor uses that contribute to activity and which animate lanes

• creating opportunities for low-cost employment space

• lighting arrangements that contribute to security and public safety

• surface finishes that are easy to maintain while working with the historic character of lanes

• arrangements for essential vehicular access while minimising non-essential access and parking

• the retention of historic features and the reinstatement of original features that will enhance lanes

• the inclusion of art interventions as integral parts development proposals rather than add-ons

• provisions for waste and recycling management that ensure high standards of cleanliness

• paying attention to microclimate and shelter in order to create comfortable environments

• sustainable drainage systems that reduce water runoff and flooding

Planning guidance is a very effective way of ensuring that future changes in the design and use of buildings positively animate and activate the city centre’s lanes. To that end, this section of the report will form a material consideration in the determination of planning applications and will be taken forward for inclusion in the

City Centre Strategic Development Framework that will form planning guidance to the City Development Plan. At the heart of the new planning guidance outlined below is the aspiration that any space that fronts onto a lane which is redeveloped or converted should create an active frontage onto that lane.

By putting in place this kind of positive planning guidance, which will form a material consideration in assessing future planning applications, the contribution of development investment to the quality and experience of the city centre’s lanes will be maximised.

METHODOLOGY

Our approach to this aspect of the lane strategy has been to:

• Assess adopted planning policy and planning guidance against the emerging lane strategy and action plan. This has involved assessing all relevant adopted City Plan policies and guidance in detail.

• Understand the performance of current adopted planning policy on developments which affect lanes, by speaking to City Council planners, developers and agents about real examples.

• Gather positive examples of planning policy and guidance for city centre lanes in other comparable UK and foreign cities (particularly Melbourne in Australia, which has developed specific city centre lanes planning policies over a number of years).

EXISTING POLICY AND GUIDANCE

To assess the current situation, relevant policies in the current development plan (City Plan 2, 2009) have been analysed and discussions held with City Council development management planners responsible for the city centre. (the more recent 2014 Proposed City Development Plan is a higher level document with no mention of lanes.)

The adopted City Plan 2 contains no planning guidance relating to city centre lanes.

City Plan 2 defines lanes as part of the public realm. There are a number of references to lanes in the plan’s policy and guidance.

In summary, the key points in existing policy are:

1. Overdevelopment should be avoided on residential lanes (maximum 2 storeys for new development), and residential amenity for existing and future residents must be high quality (see Policy RES 6: Residential Development in Lanes and Gardens).

2. New hot food shops, pubs and Class 3 uses will not be supported in lanes that are immediately adjacent to residential properties; outdoor food and drink areas will generally be supported unless they would be detrimental to residential amenity or free access; and opening hours are restricted to closing by 1am (see Policy SC 11: Food, Drink and Entertainment Uses).

3. Reopening and upgrading of lanes and wynds in the Merchant City and the Broomielaw areas is encouraged, to improve permeability (see Policy DES 7: Developments Affecting City Centre Lanes, Wynds and Courtyards).

4. New development proposals affecting lanes and wynds should be of high standard, respect traditional building lines and footprints, incorporate pedestrian access, protect rights of way and Core Paths, and retain/upgrade/reinstate cobbled surfaces (see Policy DES 7: Developments Affecting City Centre Lanes, Wynds and Courtyards).

The key points in existing guidance are as follows (see Design Guidance DG/DES 5: Development and Design Guidance for the City Centre):

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1. Where agreement can be reached by all residents, it may be possible to install security gates at each end of the back lane to ensure ‘residents only’ access. Installation of security gates would require planning permission and may require a Stopping Up Order.

2. On Blythswood Hill, new development should maintain the character of the area including the sense of enclosure in the back lanes.

Discussions with City Council planners, developers and agents indicate that adopted policy and guidance is generally effective in terms of the specific issues it is designed to address: overdevelopment, residential amenity, public access, permeability and built heritage. Adopted policy and guidance is not, however, designed to promote the positive contribution of lanes to the life and economy of the city centre - nor is it effective at achieving that.

For this reason, there is an opportunity to develop new planning guidance which specifically aims to realise the potential that city centre lanes have to offer.

PROPOSED NEW PLANNING GUIDANCE:

Active frontages and spaces

• Maximise active frontages onto existing lanes and, where appropriate (Cat A and B lanes - see page 82), open up additional lanes/courtyards public space in order to:

a) improve public safety in lanes by increasing footfall and passive surveillance

b) create valuable new active frontages which increase rental income

c) create new public spaces which provide opportunities for outdoor events and activity

(A number of major private development proposals in the city centre are currently proposing this approach.)

• Encourage ground floor uses fronting onto lanes which will generate footfall, activity and employment such as retail, entertainment, cultural and community facilities (subject to compliance with other planning policies relating to amenity and movement).

• Promote and create the opportunity for the inclusion of art, lighting, hard and soft landscaping, street furniture, spaces for events etc on existing and new lanes.

• Encourage new development with windows that are of similar proportions to those on front elevation.

• Where ground floor premises on the corners of lanes/streets have windows or openings onto lanes, encourage the same level of intervisibility between occupants inside the building and the lane outside as for the main street frontage.

• Encourage awnings or canopies over doorways for shelter rather than creating ground floor recessed doorways or setbacks in the building

line which can harbour antisocial behaviour.

• In residential areas, encourage planting within 30cm of the edge of the lane, to be maintained by residents.

Waste/recycling, maintenance and security

• A communal system for storage, presentation and collection of waste/recycling to serve all occupiers/proprietors in the new development should be implemented. Other existing occupiers/proprietors in the same block should be offered the opportunity to participate.

• New developments should implement collective management of waste/recycling, security, lighting and maintenance of the lane on behalf of all occupiers/proprietors within the development. Adjoining occupiers and proprietors in the same block should be offered the opportunity to participate. (This section of guidance will require further investigation by the Counci)

• New developments and changes of use should incorporate waste/

Bath Lane/Hope Street corner - current situation


1 extend footway over lane entrance2 use planters to brighten facade3 open up display windows to the lane4 extend footway surfacing into lane

Bath Lane/Hope Street corner - proposal

Bath Lane/Hope Street corner - annotated proposal

recycling storage within their premises, and will not be permitted to store waste/recycling bins or bags in lanes except during timed windows for presentation/collection. There will be a preference for an underground collection system where possible.

• Resurfacing of lanes should be of a quality suitable for the use of mechanical street sweepers while reflecting historical context (see below under Built heritage) to aid future maintenance and designed in accordance with sustainable drainage principles.

Public access

• Full or partial closure of lanes will be resisted unless it can be demonstrated that the lane’s closure will both (a) not obstruct necessary, service and access arrangements, and (b) result in the creation of a replacement lane that improves pedestrian amenity and advances the aims of the lane strategy.

Built heritage

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Bath Lane/Wellington Street corner - current situation

• Retain and repair existing cobbled lane surfaces and glazed tiles on rear elevations.

• Restore where possible bricked up or blocked up ground floor windows facing onto lanes, especially at the entrances to lanes

• Retain, restore and repair existing small features such as cast iron kerbs, ironwork, railings

Bath Lane/Wellington Street corner - proposal

Bath Lane/Wellington Street corner - annotated proposal

1 extend footway over lane entrance2 extend footway to form social space3 plant street tree to mark entrance4 remove bins and improve lane surface5 install lighting over entrance

Bath Lane/Wellington Street corner - plan


6.0 ACTION PROJECTS

To ensure that this strategy brings projects into being, a number of lane demonstration projects have emerged through engagement with businesses, entrepreneurs and community groups.

Individually, these projects are opportunities to demonstrate how specific aspects of the lane strategy could be implemented and the impacts they could have. Collectively, the projects should be seen as an opportunity for the City Council and other stakeholders to promote the potential of the lanes and encourage more activity and investment.

The projects outlined in this section are a selection of ideas and proposals that emerged during engagement on the lane strategy, focusing on lanes which present the greatest opportunity for positive change. They seek to illustrate the range of themes covered by the strategy.

For each project, a brief has been developed which the City Council and relevant partners (public sector agencies, adjacent businesses/proprietors, event, arts, cultural sector and community groups) can use to take the project forward.

The City Council is currently considering setting up a Lanes Activation Fund. We believe this will be an important stimulus for animating the city centre’s lanes, and could itself be piloted on these and other action projects in its first year.

LOCATION THEMES

1 Sauchiehall Lane: BID area evening economy entertainment

2 Sauchiehall Lane: Willow Tearooms heritage and management of lanes

3 Bath Lane: Wellington St – Renfield Street culture, entertainment, development of new lanes

4 Renfield Lane - Drury St - Gordon Lane - Mitchell Lane

events, evening economy, entertainmentheritage

5 Springfield Court - McCormack Lane - Princes Court - Royal Exchange Square - North Court Lane

retail and entertainment, development of new lanes, culture

6 Garnethill: Buccleuch Lane – Dalhousie Lane residential area, greenspace

7 Tontine Lane and Elmbank Gardens arts, culture, making and employment

locations of action projects

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1 SAUCHIEHALL LANE: BID AREA

The potential:

• a cleaner, safer, welcoming lane which can accommodate more business frontages and public activity

• a waste/recycling demonstration project to pilot a new system prohibiting bins/bags on streets and lanes except during timed windows, with the intention of rolling out across the city centre in the future

• greater use of sections of the lane for evening/daytime outdoor activity related to arts, music, markets, culture, food and drink

What needs to happen?

• collaborative working amongst BID, GCC and commercial waste/recycling contractors to develop a pilot system which removes bags/bins from lanes and streets except during timed windows for presentation/collection

• pilot new fast-track integrated system for licencing/consents for outdoor events and activities in lanes

• resurface and light lane to adoptable standard (using SUDS principles and to appropriate heritage conservation standards), working in conjunction with owners - GCC to recover costs from responsible parties if necessary, GCC to adopt and maintain

• strengthened regimes for street cleansing / public realm & lighting maintenance / parking enforcement / community safety

• engage with businesses and arts sector to encourage arts/cultural activities/interventions through proposed Lanes Activation Fund

• streetscape and signage investment where lane intersects streets (integrate with EIIPR ‘avenues’ investment where appropriate

Who needs to be involved?

• BID

• individual businesses

• Glasgow City Council (city centre, parking, lighting, street cleaning, waste/recycling, licencing)

• commercial waste/recycling contractors

• Community Safety Glasgow

• arts and events sectors

• Police Scotland

This is one of a number of projects along Sauchiehall Lane which could be pursued independently or grouped.

west end of Sauchiehall Lane - current situation


1 repair and extend cobbled surface2 tidy up and remove bins3 repaint timberwork and unblock windows4 introduce planting at balcony level5 permit stalls, canopies and kiosks

west end of Sauchiehall Lane - proposal

west end of Sauchiehall Lane - annotated proposal

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2 SAUCHIEHALL LANE: WILLOW TEAROOMS

The potential:

• improve the setting of the internationally significant C R Mackintosh Willow Tearooms (rear elevation), tackle problems of waste/recycling, litter, lane surface, indiscriminate parking and antisocial behaviour

• support the proposed development Willow Tearooms as an international hub for C R Mackintosh heritage in Glasgow and the West of Scotland


• an integrated approach to waste/recycling management to remove bins/bags from the lane, exploring the possibility of linking with a pilot project in the adjacent Sauchiehall Business Improvement District or making new arrangements in the adjacent Sauchiehall Centre

• resurface and light the lane to adoptable standards using SUDS principles and appropriate heritage conservation standards and working in conjunction with owners - GCC to recover the costs from responsible parties if necessary and GCC to adopt and maintain the lane

• strengthened regimes for street cleansing, public realm and lighting maintenance, parking enforcement and community safety

• engage with the Willow Tearooms Trust, other owners and the arts sector to encourage arts, cultural activities and interventions through the proposed Lanes Activation Fund

• streetscape and signage investment where lanes intersect with streets (especially with the EIIPR Avenues investment


• proprietors on the block bounded by Sauchiehall Street, Bath Street, Blythswood Street and West Campbell Street with the Willow Tearooms Trust as a good first contact

• Glasgow City Council - city centre, parking, lighting, street cleaning, waste/recycling, licencing

• commercial waste and recycling contractors

• Community Safety Glasgow and Police Scotland


Sauchiehall Lane, behind the Willow Tearooms - current situation


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repair cobbled surfacereinstate cast iron kerb and footwayrepaint doors and timberworkWillow Tearooms rear extensionnew cobbled surface at Mackintosh rear elevation

Sauchiehall Lane, behind the Willow Tearooms - proposal

Sauchiehall Lane, behind the Willow Tearooms - proposal

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3 SAUCHIEHALL LANE: WELLINGTON STREET TO RENFIELD STREET

The potential:

• the opportunity to increase indoor and outdoor evening economy and popup activities on the section of Sauchiehall Lane west of Hope Street

• creation of new a new lane with frontage development and public activity east of Hope Street in the block containing the former BHS store


• an integrated approach to waste/recycling management to (a) remove bins and bags from the lane and (b) pilot a new system combining the redeveloped lane east of Hope Street and businesses on the existing lane west of Hope Street

• engage with the developers to maximise opportunities for active public lanes and integrated waste management in new developments

• pilot a new fast-track integrated system for licencing/consents for outdoor events and activities in lanes

• engage with businesses and the arts sector to encourage arts, cultural activities and interventions through the proposed Lanes Activation Fund

• streetscape and signage investment where lanes intersect streets (integrate with EIIPR Avenues investment as appropriate


• proprietors on the block bounded by Sauchiehall Street, Bath Street, Wellington Street and Hope Street - the developer of the former BHS site is a good first contact







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create new entrances to internal courtyardcreate links to Sauchiehall Laneintegrated approach to waste/recyclinglinks to Malone’s area of Sauchiehall Lane

axonometric (left) and visual (above)courtesy Stallan Brand Architects

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4 RENFIELD LANE - DRURY STREET - GORDON LANE - MITCHELL LANE

The potential:

• a linked network of lanes with greater footfall and food/drink/cultural activity during day and evening

• outdoor eating, drinking, music and cultural activity in the lanes

• promotion of existing venues and the creation of additional opportunities

• promote the architecture of C R Mackintosh’s former Daily Record building on Renfield Lane


• remove of waste/recycling bins and bags from lanes

• streetscape and signage investment where lanes intersect streets (integrate with EIIPR Avenues investment

• engagement with businesses and the arts sector to encourage arts and cultural activities and interventions through the proposed Lanes Activation Fund

• establishing public access along Gordon Lane from Gordon Street to Mitchell Lane

• strengthening regimes for street cleansing, public realm and lighting maintenance, parking enforcement and community safety

• integrate with District Regeneration Frameworks


• food and drink establishments along the route


• commercial waste and recycling contractors



• cross-reference with the Avenues EIIPR

Renfield Street/Drury Street/Gordon Lane - current situation

Renfield Street/Drury Street/Gordon Lane - proposal


Renfield Street/Drury Street/Gordon Lane - proposal

Renfield Street/Drury Street/Gordon Lane - annotated proposal

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extend footway over lane entranceremove bins and tidy laneextend footway over current parking lanereduce carriageway to two lanes and change surface to mark new status

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5 SPRINGFIELD COURT - MCCORMACK LANE - PRINCES COURT - ROYAL EXCHANGE SQUARE - NORTH COURT LANE – ANCHOR LANE

The potential:

• to connect Glasgow’s top-end retail areas, particularly luxury retail on Ingram Street with premium retail on Buchanan Street and Princes Square with GoMA and Queen Street Station - a major visitor destination and a major arrival point of arrival respectively

• to create a linked network of traffic-free lanes and courtyards in the heart of the city centre with greater footfall and retail, food, drink and cultural activity during day and evening

• increased outdoor eating, drinking, music and cultural activity in lanes and courtyards

• opportunities for new commercial development fronting onto lanes and courtyards as retail, food, drink, arts, culture and a hotel


• removal of waste/recycling bins/bags from lanes and courtyards

• streetscape and signage investment where lanes intersect streets (integrate with EIIPR Avenues investment and Queen Street station redevelopment)

• encourage arts and cultural interventions through the proposed Lanes Activation Fund

• strengthen regimes for community safety, street cleansing, public realm maintenance and parking enforcement

• engage with key landowners to enable development potential

• integrate with District Regeneration Framework


• landowners and businesses





Springfield Court - existing


Springfield Court - graphic from student project, Strathclyde University

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6 GARNETHILL: BUCCLEUCH LANE – DALHOUSIE LANE

The potential:

• reduction of crime and anti-social behaviour especially fire-raising and flytipping

• a cleaner neighbourhood, more ecologically friendly with a more residential ambience

• new opportunities for community environmental, arts and cultural activities through Garnethill Community Council and FroGG (Friends of Garnethill Greenspaces)

• opportunities for individual owners and tenants to undertake planting along the lane and property margins

• better unobstructed access to the lane by waste/recycling vehicles and emergency services


• resurfacing and lighting the lanes to adoptable standards using SUDS principles and allowing for private planting along lane edges, GCC to recover costs from responsible parties if necessary - GCC to adopt and maintain

• strengthening regimes for community safety, street cleansing, public realm maintenance and parking enforcement

• encouraging community greenspace, arts and cultural activities in lanes and adjacent spaces through the proposed Lanes Activation Fund

• encouraging individual planting along lane and property margins by community groups and individual owners and tenants


• proprietors

• Garnethill Community Council, Friends of Garnethill Greenspaces


• arts sector


Buccleuch Lane - current situation


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introduce planters and colourrepair lane surfacenew planters for food productionclean up wall and parking issues

Buccleuch Lane - proposal

Buccleuch Lane - proposal

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7 NEW SPACES FOR CREATIVE PRODUCTION – TONTINE LANE AND ELMBANK GARDENS

The potential:

Glasgow city centre has the potential to expand its capacity and footfall by making better use of lanes system. The single most critical act that would catalyse the use of the lanes would be to create activity on a daily basis by fostering a community of makers and doers. The creative community of Glasgow provides a ready-made tenant for the lanes with a network of people who have the capacity to transform the lanes into active productive spaces. As described in Chapter 2, Glasgow has an abundance of creative studio spaces and workshops but the majority of these are on the periphery of the city. There is a gap in the market for affordable workshop space in the city centre where people can build, craft and make things.

Simple alterations to the architecture of the lanes through small interventions such as the introduction of shipping containers, breaking openings in gable walls, adding awnings, converting existing garage structures and opening up bricked up windows would provide the space required for these activities.

The lane could become a regular venue for arts/cultural activity such as Heverlee popup event in summer 2015 and associated arts interventions. The proposal for Tontine Lane would complement and integrate with the proposed City Deal business incubator development in the adjacent Tontine Building. The proposal for Elmbank Gardens could integrate with the MAKLab and Glasgow School of Art and benefit from the high footfall associated with Charing Cross Station.


• The pilot should focus on one or two lanes, inviting a select group of enterprises to set up workshops in the lanes. Potential locations are Tontine Lane and Charing Cross – all of these spaces are connected to or in the proximity of creative organisation and cultural locations.

• Live Build: to activate the pilot project a live build project would be run to adapt the lane into workshop spaces.

• The process of energising the lanes should make use of existing assets. There are public art interventions that have been uninstalled and are sitting in storage such as Simon Corder’s piece as part of Radiance Festival in 2005 or in Douglas Gordon’s work Empire, sitting in Tontine Lane behind locked gates.

• A coordinator of the lanes or Curator of Access is required to research, invite and coordinate a mix of productive enterprises. This role would be a paid position independent of Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Life but engaged in regular dialogue with them and be embedded in the creative community of Glasgow.

• Encourage arts/cultural/entertainment activities/interventions through proposed Lanes Activation Fund, building on previous experience in the space.

• Streetscape and signage investment where lanes intersect streets (integrate with adjacent EIIPR Avenues investment).

• Design and implement collaboratively with proposed development of ‘The Tontine’ innovation centre in adjacent Tontine Building.

• Strengthened regimes for community safety, street cleansing, public realm maintenance and parking enforcement.

• Increased public access to Tontine Lane.


The group of organisations based in the lanes could operate as a Social Enterprise mini Business Improvement District for their Lane. The enterprises selected for the lanes would be companies and initiatives that demonstrated a social commitment and desire to engage with the public and communities. Their rents would be set at an affordable rate and the proceeds would go into the upkeep of the lanes. By encouraging these sorts of enterprises to populate the lanes, there would be an incentive to care for the immediate environment. This increased activity and care would attract other activities and reduce anti-social behaviour.

• Arts and events sectors


• The Tontine (City Deal innovation centre)

• Community Safety Glasgow / Police Scotland

Elmbank Gardens - current situation


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utilise broad spaces for new structuresdevelop and arts and makers hubwork with high footfall around stationclean up existing concrete mural

Elmbank Gardens - proposal

Elmbank Gardens - proposal

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Tontine Lane - current situation


7.0 IMPLEMENTATIONINTRODUCTION:

The implementation of the Lane Strategy requires a strong shared sense that improving the lanes is a key area of activity for everyone involved in the future of the city centre. The subject areas for priority action are:

• effective planning policy and guidance

• resolving operational issues around waste, parking, lighting, public health and community safety

• setting priorities and targeting resources

• implementing action projects

• promotion of initiatives and projects through the city centre strategy website

• establishing a Lanes Activation Fund to help fund and support lane initiatives and projects

• integration with other funding and project streams

PRIORITY ACTION AREAS:

The priority areas where some of these actions can play out vary considerably. Some, for example, effective planning policy and guidance or resolving operational issues around waste, parking and lighting cover the entire city centre while others are site specific.

The actions associated with these are shown in more detail in the table below with agency, stakeholder, business or community interest identified where appropriate.

The table also includes a timescale for each action although this is necessarily quite loose. Many of these actions are for operational changes which should be introduced as soon as possible then become permanent, though monitored – for example changes in the way that waste and recycling is managed.

Other proposals, for example the Action Plan proposals are for projects which have arisen through engagement with businesses and others during the study period. There will most likely be an expectation that the Council can support these projects, even in a minor way, but they will be time-limited. After the passage

of a year or more, if the ideas set out here for particular interventions are not developed, they may not appeal to other promoters as circumstances may have changed.

ACTION AREA AGENCY/STAKEHOLDER TIMESCALE

1 Planning Policy and Guidance GCC-DRS

2 Strategic + Operational Interventions

Waste and recycling GCC Departments now/short term

Public health and community safety

GCC, Community Safety Glasgow, Police Scotland NHS

ongoing

Lighting GCC-LES, Property Owners ongoing

Parking and surfacing GCC-LES, Property Owners medium term

Events and popups GCC Departments now to long term

Arts and culture GCC-DRS, Glasgow Life, Art Community

Integration with Avenues GCC-DRS, City Deal

Future development GCC-DRS, Developers

3 Implementing Action Projects:

1 Sauchiehall Lane BID Area BID, GCC, Property Owners now/short term

2 Sauchiehall Lane – Willow Tearooms

HLF, GCC, Property Owners, Willow Tearooms Trust

now/short term

3 Sauchiehall Lane/former BHS site

GCC Departments, Developers

now/short term

4 Renfield Lane – Gordon Lane GCC Departments, Businesses

medium term

5 Springfield Court GCC-DRS, Developers, Owners

now/short term

6 Garnethill – Buccleuch Lane FFROG, GCC Departments, Local Community

now/short term

7 Tontine Lane/Elmbank Gardens

GCC Departments, City Deal, Arts Community

short term

4 Promotion of Initiatives GCC-DRS – use city centre strategy and PMG websites

now to long term

5 Establishing a Lanes Activation Fund

GCC-DRS now to long term

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SETTING PRIORITIES:

Establishing and promoting a Lanes Activation Fund to assist with specific projects for improving lanes in association with local businesses, communities and agencies is a very worthwhile project but the Council would have to decide on the merits of one project versus another as any funding is likely to be limited.

The map below shows a Lanes Hierarchy of four categories ranging from locations where significant immediate opportunities for greater activity are available with only minimal improvements required (CAT A) to largely utilitarian lanes with limited opportunities for change in the foreseeable future (CAT D).

Of course future projects are very difficult to anticipate and plan for. It may be that a project emerges that would substantially improve lanes that currently have a low categorisation but this study and strategy provides a solid background for the assessment of projects against strategic goals.

Lanes Categories


8.0 CONCLUSION

The Lanes are potentially one of the most significant and useful assets within Glasgow City Centre. They offer a very different experience to the busy main streets in terms of scale and shelter. They potentially offer opportunities for art and culture, for employment through cheaper spaces for small businesses to develop, for spaces to make things, places to perform, to eat and drink. They are rich in history and architecture. They are the yin to the yang of the bustling thoroughfares of Buchanan Street, Gordon Street and Sauchiehall Street.

Yet many lanes suffer from a series of negative characteristics including anti-social behaviour, poor physical environments, parking and accessibility issues, poor drainage and surface finishes, inadequate lighting and the dominance of paraphernalia associated with refuse disposal. These negative aspects work against positive aspirations for the lanes

This strategy sets out a series of actions aimed at creating a better lanes system throughout the city centre. This covers revised planning guidance, operational and strategic issues including resolving operational issues around waste, parking, lighting, public health and community safety.

Much of the work in preparing this strategy has been carried out in discussion with a wide range of agencies, communities and businesses throughout the city centre as well as departments within the Council and its contractors. There have been many positive outcomes from these discussions including a range of pilot projects covering some of the important themes and issues central to the improvement of the lanes.

With such a wide range of issues and types of lane across the City Centre, it is necessary to have some means of determining priorities. A Lanes Activation Fund is proposed to assist with new lane initiatives but even with moderately good funding, there has to be

a sense of priority and this is guided by a hierarchy system for the lanes. There is an opportunity for imaginative and innovative approaches to stimulate activity and investment in lanes – for example, through imaginative use of the proposed Lanes Activation Fund to create competitions, rewards and incentives for initiatives that will deliver the contents of this strategy.

Finally, in order to make real progress with the implementation of this Strategy, there is a need to:

• Co-ordinate action and delivery across Council departments and service organisations who all need to play a part in delivering the potential contribution of the lanes to the quality of the City Centre and its lanes.

• Set in hand a complementary PR/comms campaign to broadcast the opportunities and benefits of improving the lanes to landowners, investors and private/social entrepreneurs. The Council needs to communicate the strategy and make sure it is clear to people with ideas for Lanes - where they can go and to whom should they talk – to make licensing and other consents easy. There is a need for good communication to the outside world and for the Council to work more effectively with residents, communities, artists, businesses and others to make the Strategy a success.

• Work supportively with private and social entrepreneurs who wish to activate lanes. These are the people who will deliver the promise of this strategy and who need to be encouraged and supported.

Willie Miller Urban Design20 Victoria Crescent Road Glasgow G12 9DD+44 (0)141 339 5228 [email protected]

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LANE STRATEGY for Glasgow City Centre LANE... · 2017-03-28 · To ensure that this strategy brings projects into being, a number of lane demonstration projects have emerged through